Ghost of the West

It wasn’t until Spindrift left Delaware for good and immersed itself in Los Angeles and its great Western film tradition that the band found its true identity. By 2008, Spindrift had completed the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino’s Hell Ride, which led to contributing material to HBO’s Eastbound and Down and scoring a restored version of director J.X. Williams’ Tecumseh’s Curse. In 2012, Spindrift played a tour of Western ghost towns and had underground filmmaker Burke Roberts document it. This is that film's soundtrack. Most of the songs are covers: country-western standards from the mid–20th century, performed as if Spindrift were equally influenced by Ennio Morricone and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds. Among the few originals, “The Matador and the Fuzz” captures the sound of spaghetti western musicians battling with a Dick Dale surf band. Native American influences mix with Spanish flamenco and European classical modes. Of the covers, “Cool Water” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky” are the best known, but the excellent “Hangin’ Me Tonight” deserves to be center stage.