The creative mastermind behind Dirty Ghosts, Allyson Baker has had a lengthy musical career, as she first started out as a guitarist in several Toronto-based punk and hardcore bands. By 2000, she had relocated to San Francisco, where she was a member of a sludgy blues band Parchman Farm. Dirty Ghosts, was originally formed as a stripped down, semi-side project featuring Baker’s vocals and guitar work, with Aesop Rock’s drum and beat loops, and the project’s debut effort, Metal Moon was released to critical praise and attention across the blogosphere back in 2012 for a sound that managed to mesh blues, punk rock and electronica in an brash, brassy fashion.
“Cataract” the first single off Baker’s long-awaited sophomore effort Let It Pretend, which is slated for a fall release reflects a subtle change in sonic direction for Baker. The song continues Baker’s reputation for brashly and seamlessly meshing elements of punk, blues and straightforward rock with synths and other electronics – but with four-on-the-floor drumming and a slick studio polish, seem to suggest that Baker had been inspired by 80s New Wave and dance punk.
