New Music: Ghost Cult – Oh Well

Published On: December 13th, 2025|

With a name like Ghost Cult, the Memphis, Tennessee based outfit were probably destined to create music with a distinct 80s feel.

What I wasn’t ready for was how easily and skilfully on Oh Well they embody the early-to-mid period of that decade, often mining a time when post-punk was yet to hit the charts globally. The presence of New Order circa Movement is discernible, so Ghost Cult are certainly following their own path, away from the current take on the genre.

Also audible is the influence of The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, but again at a point when both bands were experimental and exploratory. The song is the thing, for all that, and Oh Well draws enough from the lighter, pacy side of the genre to give the song an openness and accessibility that should easily win over fans of those bands, and lovers of post-punk in general.

Says the band’s vocalist and bassist Alex Hardberger, “Oh Well began with the bass line, and everything else fell into place around it. The lyrics reflect the rapid cycling of self-deprecation and resignation that I think we are all prone to.

“To me this is a song that is very much reflecting on a present situation, and all the fleeting thoughts that swim through our minds at those moments. I could be good or bad or both. The phrase ‘Oh Well’ becomes a kind of surrender, a way of dealing with the confusion and not necessarily finding all the answers.”