The Ghouls spark their own buzz with the explosive ‘Handle With Care’

Lowell indie alt-rock band capture unrivaled momentum and unleash a powderkeg of a debut album on Friday, May 30

The Ghouls won the 2024 Rock and Roll Rumble and Rock Artist of the Year at the 2024 Boston Music Awards, where they also performed live

Photo Credit: Kira Emery

Record release party going down Friday, June 6 at The Middle East in Cambridge

BOSTON, Mass. [May 30, 2025] – For a new band on the scene, buzz can be a four-letter word. Some bands chase hard after it, doing whatever it takes to get noticed and get ahead. Others allow it to find them, accepting a sudden wave of attention that can be as fleeting as it is overwhelming, hanging loud overhead like guitar distortion piercing out from a stage amp. So what's a young band to do when the buzz not only greets them after releasing a debut single, but piles up in remarkable fashion after only unveiling two more?

Follow it all up by making the best motherfucking debut album possible.

That’s what The Ghouls are doing after a wild 2024. In May, the young Lowell band won the esteemed Rock and Roll Rumble, the decades-old institution known as the “World Series of Boston Rock,” and come December scored Rock Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards, where they were also invited to perform live and nominated in the New Artist category. But this new album is no simple encore, nor a fight to live up to lofty, already-cast expectations.

This is The Ghouls just getting started, and the culmination of the buzz, the awards, and the sweat and the fury of one of the best live shows in town manifests itself at maximum volume through the indie and alt-rock quartet’s blistering debut album, Handle With Care, set for release on Friday, May 30. A week later, on June 6, they celebrate the record, the past year, and all the excesses along the way with the official release party at The Middle East in Cambridge.

And like the attention that found The Ghouls early on, it takes roughly three seconds for Handle With Care to reach a frenzied cruising altitude. Moments in, vocalist and guitarist George Danahy lets out a primal “Let’s go now!” scream on fiery opener “Pocket of Gold” as the band – guitarist Peter Trainor; bassist Jacob Babcock; and drummer Bryce Maher, who all recently met as students at the University of Massachusetts Lowell – comes together to unleash an unbridled fit of rock and roll fury.

“I hope this record is universal for the listener,” Danahy admits. “I hope it is an album they choose to listen to while working out, while driving, on amazing days, and on awful days. Handle With Care reflects how young our band is in the grand scheme of things, in a positive way. There are many wildly different sounding tracks on this record, yet all of them still sound like they come from us. It all still feels cohesive.”

That cohesion is in play across the album’s nine tracks, which Danahy first drafted as demos before taking to the band to find their final form. The Boston scene first got introduced to The Ghouls in late 2023, when powderkeg debut single “Hellbound” first hit the streams. A few months later, they won the Rumble in decisive fashion, delivering three incendiary sets to The Middle East and Sonia, with many in attendance joking out loud that the band locked in the crown early on in the long-running Boston band competition. Those performances are now the stuff of legend.

With momentum at their backs and a reputation for an explosive live show permeating the Boston music scene, The Ghouls unveiled a pair of new singles in the fall, September’s high-octane indie belter “Pocket of Gold,” with its inspired callback to boozy early-00s garage rock from both sides of the Atlantic, and October’s jangly “Lovestruck,” showcasing the foursome’s penchant for hooky, punchy power-pop.

Then came the Boston Music Awards, where the band not only captured Rock Artist of the Year (and were nominated in the New Artist of the Year category), but performed live for a sold-out crowd at Big Night Live, taking their sound beyond the blogs and the scenesters and presenting it to a city-wide audience representing all corners of Boston music. On that stage, like the Rumble stage before it and all the other clubs and bars and venues where the band cut its teeth, The Ghouls not only belonged – they proved that unhinged guitar rock is very much not dead.

“Talk about a streak!” Danahy says. “I still don’t think that we’ve entirely processed what we accomplished in 2024. After the Rumble win, that sort of kicked things into overdrive for us. We had so many new resources to sift through. While we always wanted to push for greatness, that was the moment that really made us push to see where this thing can go. For the BMAs, I was just hoping we’d get nominated for the award! When we were asked to perform, I still remember the general excitement we all had! Much speculation if this hinted at us winning. Getting nominated and performing was an amazing opportunity, the win was the cherry on top.”

Maher was in the middle of his college finals during the Rumble, getting his education during the day and rocking out behind the kit at night. “The Rumble was surreal,” he says. “I feel like I kind of just showed up and played just like any other gig each time we did it. I guess that was kind of a wake-up call that some people, a lot of people, really do enjoy us. The BMAs just solidified that for me even more so. It gave me a lot of confidence not only in the Ghouls, but in my other projects as well.

Trainor says the key for him was to keep expectations low going into both the Rumble and the BMAs: “I figured we’d give it our best shot at the Rumble and to see how far we could go – so to go all the way is still very surreal. You would think I’ve learned my lesson, but I did the same thing with the BMAs. I thought we had a really good chance of that New Artist of the Year [award], but the Rock Artist category was so competitive and I was just happy to be nominated.”

Part of the spoils of winning the Rumble is the competition’s vaulted “prize booty,” a collection of assets that include studio time, photo shoots, radio and media publicity campaigns, and other stuff a band would kill to acquire. Nearly all the prizes afforded The Ghouls helped to shape and create Handle With Care. The band hit several studios around the region – New Alliance Audio in Somerville; 37’ Productions in Rockland; Henley Row in Stoneham; and Rare Signals and Q Division in Cambridge – all while working with esteemed producers and engineers like Ethan Dussault, Sean McLaughlin, Dan Nicklin, Brian Charles, Craig Small, and Colin Lester Fleming.

“Being able to take full advantage of some incredible studios and working with some phenomenal producers was an absolute dream,” Babcock says.” It really felt like we were able to create a world for each song and I hope people enjoy losing themselves in those worlds as much as I do.”

Anyone who has caught a Ghouls show over the past year or so is likely to recognize many of the songs on Handle With Care. But with studio polish and a guidance of vision from a host of veteran collaborators, as cited above, the tracks contained here reach a fever pitch.

“We’ve been playing these songs consistently for well over a year at this point,” Babcock adds. “I think most of the people who know us are pretty familiar with most of them, I’m just excited for people to familiarize themselves with and hopefully also be surprised by the finished product.”

It would be hard to be. Beyond the singles, the new tracks reach a spectrum of genres and styles: “Garfield” oozes the animated detached cool of the 2000s indie rock scene, threatening to fly off the rails at any moment without actually doing so; the expansive “For You” brings the tenacity down to a confessional draft; “Scopophobia” leans into post-punk territory with its moody, post-midnight gallop; and “Reach For The Sky” exudes a celestial, almost prog-like ambition; April single and album appetizer “Game,” combines the quiet/loud components through infectious melody; and album closer “Goodbye” resharpens the alt-indie guitar rock assault to drop an exclamation mark on this beast of a record.

“I feel like the whole album theme sums it up perfectly – Handle With Care,” says Danahy. “Many of the tracks are super high energy, like the artwork imagery with the grenade exploding, like ‘Pocket of Gold’, ‘Hellbound’, ‘Goodbye’... while others show some vulnerability, hence the ‘With Care’ – ‘Lovestruck’, ‘For You’, and ‘Garfield’.”

Ask the band about their personal highlights, and the replies are as varied as the animated sounds contained within.

“I think my favorite song on the record is the last one, ‘Goodbye’ – that was a perfect example of our producer, Sean McLaughlin, taking the initial intent of the song and cranking it to 11,” Danahy says, with Babcock adding: “I think the album version of ‘Hellbound’ does an incredible job of taking a song most people know and putting it in a new light. ‘Reach For The Sky’ is the song I contributed the most to so I certainly have some bias towards that one.”

Maher cites “Garfield” as a fave. “It’s awesome,” he says. “The little breakdown is fresh. I love the structure, and how the rhythm of the vocals sit so well on top of the track. It’s a fun listen.” And Trainor chimes in with his own picks: I love how ‘Game’ came out! That’s a song we tried to record a couple times, but I’m glad we saved it for the studio because Brian Charles worked his magic and it feels like that’s the way the song was supposed to sound. I also play synth on ‘Scopophobia’ so that’s pretty cool.”

So what comes next? Maher jokingly lists out The Ghouls’ hopes and dreams for 2025, offering up a wishlist of “a million dollars, getting on a bill with a bunch of skramz bands, a remix of ‘Hellbound’ with a rapper, and a really big pizza.” But for a band with an awfully lot of buzz around them, each member is decidedly chill about the whole thing.

“I don’t even know what comes tomorrow!” Danahy says with a laugh. “We got a lot of songs that we feel strongly about already written, and some already being performed! I honestly hope to take advantage of every opportunity that we get and take this thing as far as we can.”

But for now, what stands firm is Handle With Care, The Ghouls’ debut album that was made exactly how the band wanted it – and needed it – to be made. It takes their live show and puts it on record, it filters a vast array of influences and desires and condenses it into one tight, comprehensive record that grabs the listener at “go!” and never loosens the grip. Just like the hand holding the grenade on the colorful artwork.

Buzz can be many different things to many different bands. But for The Ghouls, it's just a thing that happened along the way to being the band they’ve always wanted to be.

“We always just sound like The Ghouls. It’s cool,” Maher concludes. “The diversity on this record, combined with the fact that we are a relatively new band, gives us the opportunity to tackle different styles again, or hone in on a specific sound in the future. I’m excited to see what comes after this album.”

Media Contact: Please direct press inquiries to Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com,
and reach The Ghouls directly at theghoulsband.music@gmail.com.

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The Ghouls are:

George Danahy: Lead vocals and guitar

Peter Trainor: Guitar

Jacob Babcock: Bass

Bryce Maher: Drums

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‘Handle With Care’ production credits:

All songs written by George Danahy

Engineer on “Pocket of Gold”, “For You”, and “Scopophobia”: Ethan Dussault at New Alliance Audio

Engineer on “Garfield”, “Lovestruck”, “Hellbound”, “Goodbye”: Sean McLaughlin at 37’ Productions

Engineer on “Reach for the Sky”: Dan Nicklin at Henley Row

Engineer on “Game”: Brian Charles at Rare Signals

Co-production on “Garfield” and “Hellbound”: Craig Small

Recording engineer on “Garfield” and “Hellbound”: Colin Lester Fleming at Q Division

Second recording engineer on “Garfield” and “Hellbound”: Izaak Biewald and Lilly Senna

Second recording engineer on Lovestruck and Goodbye: Sean Nelson

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‘Handle With Care’ album artwork:

Art Credit: Peter Trainor

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The Ghouls short bio:

The Ghouls are the band you’ve been waiting for. Hailing from the Massachusetts city of Lowell, this alt-rock and power-pop four-piece takes inspiration from bands such as The Strokes, The Cure, and Weezer to create a sound entirely their own. On the strength of a handful of digital singles and fueled by a raucous live show, The Ghouls’ achievements so far include winning Boston’s 2024 Rock and Roll Rumble, opening for award-winning multi-instrumentalist Luna Li, being featured in the Boston Globe (twice!), and winning a Boston Music Award as 2024’s ‘Rock Artist of the Year’ (just after they were invited to perform live). But they need to be seen and heard to be believed. Debut album Handle With Care drops May 30. Buckle up.

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Media praise for The Ghouls:

“A bit of good weezer…” _The Boston Herald

“[E]choes of early aughts alternative…” _The Boston Globe

“‘Pocket of Gold’ is a high energy, upbeat alt-rock track. It stops just shy of being pop punk, but just barely. It sounds like if The Strokes started out in the mid 90's in the wake of Weezer and Fountains of Wayne. It's melodic, and fun, with just enough of an edge to truly set it apart from other bands. If you love jangly guitars, ridiculously catchy melodies, and songs that demand you move, you're going to love ‘Pocket of Gold’.” _If It’s Too Loud

“...a scorcher!” _Rock And Roll Fables on “Hellbound”

“Like a sprint through early aughts rock, [‘Pocket of Gold’] ricochets with a scrappiness that’s best described as The Strokes on speed, and lead singer and guitarist George Danahy delivers the line “Nothing can be bought / Babe, give me a shot” with perfect frontman panache.” _Vanyaland

“The Ghouls came next, and they’re one of the most solid live bands in the Boston scene today. They have this perfect mix of playing loosely in that 90's cool way while also being an incredibly tight band. The two previous times I’ve seen them play have blown me away, and even though I knew what to expect for this third time, I was still pleasantly surprised by how great they are live. They play a great mix of punk meets alt-rock that is just mainstream enough to win over the normies but just unique enough to keep the music snobs happy.” _If It’s Too Loud

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Press Contact: Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Band Contact: The Ghouls at theghoulsband.music@gmail.com

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