Premiere: Creek + Ghostlike – “Unbalanced” + “Extinction Is Forever”
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Denver, CO, alt rockers Creek recently released the standalone single “See Through,” and it seems they’ve got no intentions of slowing down. They’ve perfected their sound on the two songs they contributed to their upcoming split with Lincoln, NE, quartet Ghostlike, who make for a great pairing. Both bands’ sounds borrow from the hazy, ominous alt rock of bands like Citizen and Balance and Composure, each twisted in a slightly different direction. For Creek, it’s a bit more immediate, vocals crystal clear through the morass of thick riffs; Ghostlike takes things in the other direction, pushing in a rawer, heavier direction. They work nicely together, showing off two sides of a similar coin, and we’re excited to premiere a song from each band today.
Creek contributes the first two songs on the split, and today we’re bringing you an early listen of opener “Unbalanced.” It’s one of Creek’s very best tracks to date. The band shares
The split came together super naturally. We became fans of Ghostlike after we played a DIY venue run by the band on tour in 2024. The idea of doing a release together came up while catching up with Ghostlike when they played Denver’s Ghost Canyon Fest later that year. Both bands agreed a split felt like the perfect way to collaborate and share our love of the darker side of shoegaze, emo, and post-rock. Our side of the split explores a more angular version of Creek that deals with the end of a friendship and the weight of what’s left unsaid.
Ghostlike closes things out, and you can listen to the EP’s featherweight closer “Extinction Is Forever” below. It’s the band’s first new song in almost a year, and it’s a lovely five-minute descent into hell; it begins softly, a silky dreampop sway, before sludgy guitars tear the whole thing apart. Its balance of the light and dark is similar to a band like Iress or Som, and the dual vocals give it an eerie feel. Ghostlike says
It’s a rare treat when another artist comes along that your band not only enjoys but is also inspired by. Creek has been a collective favorite of ours since meeting last year, so it felt like a natural choice to do a release with them. Both bands find ourselves inspired by similar corners of alternative music; and though, stylistically, the song writing is quite different, the songs really go hand-in-hand and compliment each another nicely. Ghostlike’s side is our favorite of our work to date. “Extinction Is Forever” calls out the hypocrisy of a condemnatory person who seeks forgiveness when the consequences of their judgmental actions have caught up with them. “Death Rattle” explores a dichotomy where we experience both the gratitude of looking back and seeing how far we’ve come, and the discouragement of looking ahead to a future that looks like an emotional Myth of Sisyphus. We contend to be who we want to be but can never seem to feel like we’ve achieved an ideal and resent ourselves for it.
Check out Creek’s “Unbalanced” and Ghostlike’s “Extinction Is Forever,” compiled together as Creek // Ghostlike I, below.
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Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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