Photo courtesy of Dead Ghosts

On Vancouver-based garage-rock band Dead Ghosts new single “Roky Said,” the band looked to one of their musical heroes for inspiration: Roky Erickson. “I definitely liked the idea of writing about Roky and incorporating his lyrics,” says guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nicol. “His music is a huge influence on us, and his story is a really tragic one.” That said, he admits that the song is more directly about “being left behind.” You’ll notice the familiar jangly-surfer overtone that echoes ’60s Nuggets-era psychedelic rock, but Nicol notes that there’s some modern elements embedded within as well. “Most of our songs tend to sound like some fucked-up interpretation of a ’60s pop song,” he says. “We take old elements of rock n’ roll, add our flavor to it, and try to create something different. I like to think that most of the songs a have a stand alone quality to them.”

Dead Ghosts’ new album, Can’t Get No, is out April 30 on Burger Records. Stream “Roky Said” below: