Dirty Ghosts are a San Francisco rock band formed in 2006 by Allyson Baker, Carson Binks and Baker's then-husband Ian Bavitz, known professionally as

Aesop Rock Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerg ...

. After the departure of Binks and Bavitz, Baker remained as the driving force in the band.

History

The band formed after the dissolution of Baker and Binks' prior band Parchman Farm, with Baker's then-husband Bavitz providing beats via drum machine. The first song "Battle Slang" released in 2009 was described by

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

as "riff-tastic with stuttering snares and a gritty bass pulse." The demos and singles they recorded eventually became the ''Metal Moon'' album, released in 2012 on

Last Gang Records Last Gang Records is a record label formed by Canadian music industry lawyer Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton in the fall of 2003 at the Pop Montreal Music Festival. Last Gang was nominated as Independent Record Label of th ...

. Baker explained what influenced the sound of ''Metal Moon'' to

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

"The idea of music based on the beat, with the guitar and bass working around each other yet together in a really minimal and non-linear way. The first album had more of that type of influence, and definitely my surroundings played a role in that—living with a rapper who was producing his own music in the next room." In 2015, Last Gang also released their follow-up LP Let It Pretend, with musical influences from post-punk and bands like

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

and

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...

. After Binks' and Bavitz' departure, the Dirty Ghosts live band was composed of Erin Mcdermott on bass, and Tony Sevener (

Honeycut Honeycut is a San Francisco–based band, part of the Quannum Projects. Its members are Bart Davenport (voice), RV Salters (keys and samples) and Tony Sevener (beats, MPC drum machine). The band was formed in 2003. It released its first albu ...

Summercamp Summercamp is an alternative rock quartet from Santa Barbara, California, United States, where, in 1987, vocalist/guitarists Tim Cullen and Sean McCue met in high school. Another fellow student, bass guitarist Misha Feldmann, joined soon after; ...

) on drums - occasionally taking Sevener's place have been Paul Quattrone (Osees, !!!) and Andrew Moszynski (The Deadly Snakes).

Videos

The videos for "Cataract", "Ropes That Way" and "Katana Rock" were directed by Derrick Beckles. The "Cataract" video premiered on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

in October 2015.

Other projects

Baker is a member of the Red Room Orchestra a collective of composers and performers who’ve played and recorded alongside the Bad Seeds, the Plastic Ono Band, Cibo Matto, Oingo Boingo, Bill Frisell and Lou Harrison. Baker's past affiliations include playing guitar in Toronto bands Armed & Hammered, The Shuttlecocks, Teen Crud Combo and Parchman Farm, the latter of which she formed after moving to San Francisco in the early 2000s. 3She's played guitar on releases by Aesop Rock, !!!,

Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song " Anyone ...

, The Dwarves, Cage,

El-P Jaime Stuart Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has ...

, Felt (Slug & Murs) and Kelley Stoltz.

Discography

2011 Shout It In - 7", Classic Bar Music 2012 Metal Moon - LP, Last Gang Records 2012 Katana Rock/Eyes Of A Stranger 7" -Last Gang Records 2013 Third Man Records Desert Gold 7" Box Set Live single,

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell, and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Detroit, and Soho in London—with multiple entitie ...

2015 Cataract - cassette EP,

Burger Records Burger Records was an American independent record label and record store in Fullerton, California, United States. The label was founded in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard, members of the power pop band Thee Makeout Party. The record/vide ...

2015 Let It Pretend - LP, Last Gang Records 201
Witch Hunt - 7"
Rubber Tracks 202
Strange Weather - 7", Nomad Eel

Remixes

"Shout It In"- Aesop Rock
ref> "Ropes That Way"- Mikey Young, Total Control "Cataract" -

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

References

{{Reflist American rock music groups