Review of Breakers Broken and Ghosthouse live at Martyrs 1/24/09

Breakers Broken
(Herf Yamaya, Tim Yamaya, Neal Wehman)

Ghosthouse
(Jimmy Con, M.O, A.D.D, Chuck New)

I am writing this review while dancing in my chair to sweet ass tunes on Ghosthouse's myspace page. While it may be common to find me jamming out alone, it is not common to find me smiling, dancing, and feeling inspired by rap music. Fronted by emcee A.D.D. (Rory Middleton), and producer Jimmy Con (James Henry Wineman), and backed on the keys/vox by Charlie New, this trio brings it and brings it hard. The performance I saw would not have been complete without the full sound provided by Breakers Broken. I had no clue what I was in for, as I was originally attending this show as a former friend of guitarist/vocalist Tim Yamaya of Breakers Broken. But when Ghosthouse opened their set with Lights Low, my mind and body were consumed by a hard, thumping beat that immediately got the crowd dancing. They create a familiar house-party sound, using their master mixing and sound production abilities to write songs along with old-school (or is it "old skool" ?) hits containing easy-to-follow hooks and clever lyrics spouted out of treble rapper A.D.D's face.

Ghosthouse means business. All members command the stage, mic, and crowd as the music gets the hips gyrating and lips pursing in response to a sick-nasty groove supplied by the drums, bass, and synth. Even a clever use of clap tracks could not annoy the most elite of live music connoisseurs. When I see a live show, I commonly cringe when I see a drummer set up a laptop next to his throne, or a keyboardist plug in some high-tech expensive gear. But when it came down to Chuck New's singing into a vocal tube for effect, I have to admit the sound was exciting and impressive because I could still hear his powerful voice cutting through the technology.

Music may be making a turn toward "electro" or "telechtronica" or whatever people are calling these days, but Ghosthouse and Breakers Broken have a sincere understanding of how to mix their (expensively) crafted talents with new-age recording techniques to create a solid atmostphere of sound that leaves you singing along and wishing only you could be that cool.

Plus, they let me dance on stage during the last song. Who can complain about a group that shares the limelight?


I sadly entered the club late from another performance venue, but if you'd like to be greeted by Tim Yamaya's beautifully smooth voice, head to http://www.breakersbroken.com/ to see what I missed. They have great songwriting techniques with awesome guitar playing and tight vocal harmonies. Any drummer who can sing (and sing well) while playing gets mad props from me. These guys make me want to go back in time to my first year at the University of Miami and propose to all of them. That's right. A three-way wedding.




P.S. - before I sat down fully prepared to write a review on the show that I saw on Saturday night, I received an email informing me of this site. Custom sushi designs on shoes? Yes, please!