Chasing Ghosts – Therapy (Album Review)

Chasing Ghosts – Therapy
Released: May 16, 2025 

Lineup 

Jimmy Kyle // Vocals & Guitar
Chris O’Neil // Keys, Guitar and Vocals
Josh Burgan // Guitar & Vocals
Rohan Welsh // Bass
Benny Clark // Drums 

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In recent years, the alternative community has slowly lost its touch with punk culture. Punk it is not a style, an aesthetic or a phase, it is a state of mind, politically charged and demanding of change. If you agree and need new music that stands strong in its ideas, look no further than Therapy.

Naarm-based indie punk quintet, Chasing Ghosts, is a band that continuously delivers valuable stories and messages through their springy sound. The outfit’s upcoming album, Therapy, maintains this theme, covering the always important topics of First Nation rights, domestic violence and mental health. Therapy offers a lending hand to the vulnerable, it lifts listeners off the ground and guides them. I will unravel these themes with you today as we delve into this record and its pumping and emotive activism. 

The rights of First People remains a strong topic, with lead vocalist, Jimmy Kyle, being a proud Thungutti man. In the record, Jimmy recounts his experiences as a First Nations man and highlights the hardships that encircle his life due to his race. This is performed notably in the album's lead-single ‘Amnesia Everybody’.

‘Amnesia Everybody’ bursts onto the scene with poignant anger and frustration. It curses white Australia for the concealment of its horrific history and its treatment of First People. It is a thumping hymn of vexation and encouragement; it gets listeners on their feet, marching from ear to ear with a bellowing call to action.

The lyrics ‘everything is fine / just another sunny day’ sheds light to how Australia is advertised as a sunny, easy-going country despite a dark past. The white sand, the dewy rainforests and the colourful reefs are stained with a violent history. But somehow, everyone has forgotten this, with white Australia suffering a mass wave of convenient amnesia. 

Toward the end of the number, the anger seeps into pride. The lyrics, ‘first nations always / koori pride’ are complimented by Benny Clark’s pounding drums. They beat like the hearts of First People, continuing to pump loudly despite colonial attempt to silence them. 

On top of this theme of First Nations rights, Chasing Ghosts expertly intertwines the heavy themes of domestic violence. 

The track ‘My Bingayi’ calls on men to end the cycle of abuse and take accountability for their actions. In this track, Chasing Ghosts doesn’t just entertain, they start a conversation and urge men to do better. 

This offering is slower than others, flowing like a raw conversation between siblings. With this country’s horrific rates of femicide, this song delivers an imperative message. It informs listeners on how to start uncomfortable conversations with men and how to deter them from harming women. Conversations like the one featured in this track will save lives in its emotional education. 

Jimmy's words still ring true as he spoke with Wall Of Sound upon the release of the single:

Women in Australia have been pleading for men to engage in these crucial conversations, and this song is my contribution to that conversation. Change must be embraced and championed; women's and children's lives literally depend on it.

‍Therapy’s conversational yet firm tone continues throughout the record and encompasses the theme of mental health. Mental health is by far the most discussed topic within the album. My favourite of which includes ‘Eating Paper’. It opens with this distorted riff that scrapes through and builds to Jimmy’s vocals which are much raspier than previous tracks. It’s a little edgier overall, mirroring the hardcore-influenced pop punk style of artists like The Story So Far. 

This song discusses the importance of men speaking up about their mental health. Lyrics like ‘every time I bit my tongue I was drowning / on a mouthful of blood’ suggest the more men bury their emotions, the more they will struggle. It implores men not to bite their tongues, but to express themselves and utilise their friends and family as a support system. 

This is yet another crucial conversation that is featured in multiple tracks including ‘Ten Feet Tall’, ‘Hurting Years’ and ‘IWPTEK’. 

While the record’s repetition of ideas and sounds could be viewed as slightly monotonous, I think it adds to the record’s punk charm. These conversations should never be limited; they should take up space and force themselves into listener’s ears. Each track expresses a new reason to believe in something, and for that reason Therapy is an excellent punk project.

Therapy by Chasing Ghosts isn’t just a record, it is a conversation starter. The themes and ideas covered in the Naarm outfit’s upcoming album are more important now than ever before. When listening to Therapy take note of its zealous lyricism, let it anger, energise an understand you. 

Rating: 8/10
Therapy is out Friday, May 16^th . Pre-save here
Review by Grace Cameron @gracicxo

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