Dirty Ghosts: Haunted Rock

Plenty of husband-and-wife duos have made an impact in indie rock, from new jacks like Tennis all the way back to now-exes Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. Dirty Ghosts' singer/guitarist Allyson Baker isn't married to bandmate Carson Binks but rather to producer Aesop Rock, who takes time off from his hectic hip-hop schedule to turn knobs and program beats for the band's dark, groovy post-punk.

Those beats are admirably funky—loose with the hand percussion but tight on the kicks and snares—but it's Binks' agile, rubbery bass lines plus Baker's tense guitar and alluring singing that really draw you into Dirty Ghosts' debut album Metal Moon. On songs like "Ropes That Way" and "Battle Slang," Baker strikes a commanding presence, snarling and sultry, her voice rasping and cracking at the edges but ably holding down her melodies. Binks' playing is full of busy moves, the sort of bass lines where you can hear his hands stretching all over the fretboard, but he never needlessly clutters up the band's grooves.

With rocking anthems sweetened by Baker's Joan Jett-like presence, Metal Moon is a tight introduction to a San Francisco outfit you can expect to hear a lot more from in the years to come. – Eric Grandy, Google Play

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