In a new era of music, where the omnipresence of social media has led to a rise in manufactured, sometimes silly, auto-tuned pop punk bands, it's rare to find a band that manages to be catchy and accessible without losing their authenticity. Enter Nixon's Ghost. "My main goal with this band is to bring honest music back into top 40," says Johnny Nichols, one of the Torrance, CA band's vocalists and guitarists. "I dream of a time where pop songs aren't about drinking champagne off strippers and shaking alleged 'booties' to pulsing bass drops."

This passion and authenticity is apparent in both the earnest song lyrics and sweeping musical riffs the band writes. In a band where three members share the songwriting, it would be easy to allow individual personalities and influences to clash and confuse the overall sound, but Nixon's Ghost plays to its members' strengths and the songwriting process has always been purely collaborative. The result is a mixture of tight lyrics intertwined around bass and drum lines
that often build orchestrally to bigger sonic moments that may recall some of the "screamier" elements of a Brand New song.

The soaring and sincere nature of the band's music is amplified by their energetic live show. According to Nichols, "When it comes to performing, a lot of bands blame the energy on the crowd, where really the show is supposed to produce the energy. So if it's a dull show we try to kick it up, because people are putting aside their responsibilities and paying to see a show. They deserve 1000000% of entertainment."

The three original members of Nixon's Ghost - Nichols, guitarist Adam Vilan, and keyboardist Kellen Abreu - all share vocal duties on songs that often feature overlapping harmonies and melody lines. Third guitarist Gabriel Perez was soon added to fill out the band's sound. In 2009, after two of their original members moved on to pursue other interests, bassist Corey Edgar and drummer Steven Farrah joined to give Nixon's Ghost its current lineup.
Says Abreu, "(Corey and Steven) are a good fit because they both have a background in jazz and improv, which, when you play live, is nice because everyone in the band can sort of anticipate what the others are going to do."

The band's relaunch, with new lineup and new songs, will be spearheaded by the Spring 2010 release of "Nope," an album that combines re-recorded old material with several new songs. Self-recorded and mixed by Nichols, who is also a sound engineer, purchasers of "Nope" will find the band's previous EP, "The Death of Agnew," intact alongside newer material that finds the band in more experimental and sprawling territory. "Keola," for instance, is a building epic that juxtaposes subdued verses with screaming, harmonized choruses.

Looking ahead to the future, Nixon's Ghost continues to write new material and make plans to record, yet again, in the summer of 2010. Their main goal, however, echoed by all the members in the band, is to play as many shows as possible and to bring their unique brand of rock to new audiences everywhere. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.