Pet sounds: Ghost Animal at Pehrspace tonight

Snow Cat. Phantom Falcon. Captured Koala. Meet the animals at the audiophonic petting zoo that is Ghost Animal.

Although the band professes to love The Jesus and Mary Chain, and their current single is titled to evoke the Brian Wilson-penned classic “In Your Room,” Ghost Animal are quite thankfully not a nostalgia act. Their way of evoking the sadness and despair behind the facade of life is right up to date.

In fact, Ghost Animal’s searing modernity has gotten them into the cutting-edge Deathbomb Digital Singles Club (which is not Match.com for computer terrorists…err, well…).

It seems the pleasures of fuzzed, experimental drug pop—not to mention adorable mammals—are always au courant

One of the biggest misconceptions I had about California before I lived here (I’m sure I’m not alone) was that it was all fun fun fun in the sun, especially in L.A. where Ghost Animal live.

Man was I wrong!

In Cali, a lot of people spend their whole lives hiding from the solar death ray in the sky (aka our sun). “Indoor kids” is what they are, and Ghost Animal happily cop to that designation…

Who is Ghost Animal?
Michael Avishay, 21, vocals and guitar. Marisa Rowland, 19, drums.

How long have you been together?
We’ve been playing together since April.

What do you tell people Ghost Animal sounds like?
California surf goths. Being depressed in the summer. Bottle of gin and an empty room.

What’s an artist you and Marisa can agree upon?
The Jesus and Mary Chain.

What’s your favorite song on the radio right now?
We don’t really listen to the radio at all. We’re not opposed to it, just kind of how it works it.

If you could instigate a new pop music trend, what would it be and why?
Probably Hannah Montana. We really want to do a cover of that theme song. And we like the idea of musical alter egos.

What can we expect from your show at Pehrspace?
Sadly for our upcoming show Marisa had some family issues come up and had to stay up in the bay. Stepping in for her will be a Korg Kaossilator, so people can expect an interesting and somewhat experimental combination and synthesized beats and live instrumentation. Michael will still blow his voice out, as per usual. Might throw in a Jeff Buckley cover too. Hmm. I think we will also have cassettes of our album for sale.

What’s next for you guys?
We’re working on putting together a 7″ EP right now for SPKY TWN records that should come out sometime later this year. We’ve got our debut album Summertime in Heaven out on August 15th as a free download or cassette. We’re playing shows all over Portland this fall and are planning a west coast winter tour.

If you could teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, what song would you pick?
“Be My Baby” by the Ronettes or “Hey” by the Pixies.

Watch Ghost Animal’s “Through Your Eyes”