REVIEW : RNDM's Ghost Riding - ForBassPlayerOnly

Jeff Ament side project gets synthy with it

Ghost Riding takes RNDM into keyboard country

By David Sands, March 22, 2016

With their sophomore effort Ghost Riding, RNDM have decided to go in a completely different direction from the guitar-driven hard rock feel of their debutActs.

This time around, the alt-rock trio, composed of Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur and drummer Richard Stuverud, weren’t afraid to get a little synthy with their sound. In fact, Ament actually taught himself how to use drum machines and keyboards for the endeavor.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, he said the band made a point of stepping a little bit outside their power trio “comfort zones” with the new recording.


“That’s pretty exciting for a musician 30 years down the line,” says Ament, “to be in a place where everything feels fresh and new.”

The project got its start about a year ago at Ament’s Montana studio. It took shape rather serendipitously with Arthur and Ament initially relying on an iPad drum machine app, because their drummer Stuverud hadn’t yet woken up. That happy accident—along with a decision to use experimental albums by artists like Talk Talk, Bowie, Peter Gabriel and Bauhuas as their inspirations—helped steer them down a decidely electro-tinged path with Ghost Riding.

Recording at Ament’s studio and Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle, RNDM ended up cutting 20 tracks, 11 of which appear on the new album. While the guitar, bass and drums are still their doing the work this time around, you can definitely hear the band stretching themselves on tracks like the keyboard-anchored “Stronger Man,” the funky disco jam “NYC Freaks” and the new wavey eponymous groove “Ghost Riding.”

RNDM wrapped up a brief tour in support of the new recording in Chicago on March 15.