308 Ghost Train’s “Bleed Over Me”

With a seductive drumbeat to serve as our guide, we find ourselves in the midst of a gorgeous opening melody that will only get stronger as we press on in 308 Ghost Train’s “Bleed Over Me.” There aren’t any vocals in the mix just yet, but already we start to feel the energy of a deeply emotional poetry about to join the instrumentation just moments from now. An instrumental introduction is the means of setting a tone most typically employed by rock n’ roll bands, but 308 Ghost Train don’t sound like they’re following a black and white playbook in this brand new single at all. They’re getting back to basics, admittedly, but straying from the mainstream on a whim steeped in the traditions of pop balladry. 

URL: https://www.308ghosttrain.com/

When we finally do make contact with the vocal for the first time, it’s as if it’s cutting through an invisible tension with every word it emits from behind the microphone. There’s more focus on the drums than there is the bass or the singing in the mix, but only at the onset of the opening stanza – once we’re into the blood and guts of this groove, it becomes clear what is commanding the most aesthetical control in this track. The serenade is intoxicating and not quite as efficient as some of the other components here are, but that doesn’t matter – it’s melting us like butter on hot toast one way or another, and last time I checked, that alone makes “Bleed Over Me” a winner for most listeners. 

I normally don’t go for tracks that feature as grand a harmony for their base element, but with how richly toned everything in this song is, it’s impossible for me to resist its charisma. Lately, rock has been lacking in emotional depth to the point of sounding remarkably ignorant compared to what we’ve been collectively getting out of the hip-hop, pop and country circuits in the last couple of years, but this is bucking that trend and then some. 308 Ghost Train seem like their main goal is to touch on feelings in their music that often go totally ignored in most mainstream rock n’ roll, and in 2020, that could be enough to resurrect this genre from the grave one more time. 

“Bleed Over Me” fades into the darkness with a lot less kick than it first gets going with, but by the time all four minutes and change are over, there’s no shaking the passion we’ve just absorbed from our system. Feel-good music can make all the difference in the world when things are looking particularly grim on the nightly news, and even if the major label-backed melody-makers aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, 308 Ghost Train most definitely are. Regardless of your current state of mind, this is a band that wants to get inside your heart and fill it with the soulful rock melodies that once reigned supreme on the charts. It’s classic and contemporary at the same time, and simply put, one of my favorite new rock tracks out at the moment. 

Michael Rand