Sultans, The - Ghost Ship (2026 Reissue)

Sultans' Ghost Ship was originally released on Sympathy For The Record Industry in 2000. While RFTC looked for a new drummer, Speedo (armed with an 8 track tape machine and 3 microphones) devised yet another alias as “Slasher” and concocted this primordial ooze of moped scuzz, punk rock and roll.

Ghost Ship was met with enthusiasm by those seeking blistering relief from the weak, whiny, wretched and wimpy wannabes du jour. The sound is full on, straight ahead with only starting gates and finish lines between songs. The band played some shows around California and would slightly evolve on their second LP, Shipwrecked. Ghost Ship is Sultans at their most thuggish and hairiest.

Taking inspiration from Australia’s Chosen Few, Ramones bootlegs, Misfits bootlegs and then challenging themselves to be as thrifty and impatient as possible, the songs are intentionally brief, similar and burly.

After this was recorded, these tapes lay dormant in a shed for over 20 years. When the tapes were recently unearthed, it revealed unreleased songs recorded after Ghost Ship yet before the band’s follow up LP, Shipwrecked. Some of these songs would later be absorbed by RFTC and re-recorded. These songs are included here as bonus tracks and offer no relief to the record’s unrelenting pace.