Music: Dialup Ghost

DIALUP GHOST

Nashville-based indie rockers get wonderfully weird and noisy on adventurous third LP, Sunshine Gets Hotter

Former News 4U editorial intern Russell "Russ" Finn has been making waves in the Nashville music scene for

the last five years or so via Dialup Ghost, an indie rock project that incorporates elements of altcountry, new wave, post-punk and punk - all heard in various forms on the band's first two albums, 2018's I'm Fine, I'm Fine and 2020's Empty Houses. The latter, however, leaned heavily on the alt-country vibe, summoning the ghost of Uncle Tupelo, among other giants of the genre. But this time around, vocalist/guitarist Finn and fellow DG members Jordan Smith (guitars, bass), Jade McPeak (bass, trumpet) and Jack Holway (drums) have gotten wonderfully weird and noisy on their third studio effort, Sunshine Gets Hotter.

The adventurous nature of the album recalls Wilco's left turn with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - an experiment in sound and vision that signaled a determination to stretch out and re-imagine the band's intent. Here, DG have done something similar, retaining bits of their past - most notably on the folk-influenced title track and the

closing, Uncle Tupelo-esque "I Will Live Presently" - while pushing forward in exciting new directions musically. Take, for instance, the opening, head-turning combo of "Forehead 2" and "Under the Table." Both tracks are introduced by squelches and squeals of 80s video game noise before evolving - or devolving - into dark postpunk, driven by staccato guitar riffs replete with grimy distortion. Finn's hazy, muffled vocals - seemingly double-tracked as on past recordings - hover over the mix, creating an unnerving feeling that's strangely welcoming.

While DG's post-punk influences come through loud and clear early on, as Sunshine Gets Hotter develops, it's the MC5 that seem to have been stuck in Finn's head during the writing of the album. "Get Wet," "Gun Thang," "Cruelty, U.S.A.," "Left Arms" and "Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn is a Drug Dealer" all give a nod to the legendary garage rockers, featuring raw guitars played with abandon. Each track is exhilaratingly loose and free, threatening to come apart at the seams at any moment. There's also a unifying lyrical thread - Finn, as on past releases, comments directly on the ills of society, addressing the likes of gun control issues, addiction and hate.

But the shining moment, so to speak, of this engaging album may well be the title track which takes on the hot topic of global warming. Over a simple, yet effective acoustic guitar melody, Finn wearily drones, "Cara thinks the world's going to end in her lifetime/ And if not hers or mine, then in her son's time... The sunshine gets hotter, the sea levels rise/ One day the ocean will swallow the sky." It's brutally frank yet somehow comforting.

To listen to or purchase Sunshine Gets Hotter, visit Dialup Ghost on Bandcamp.

FORMER NEWS 4U EDITORIAL INTERN RUSSELL "RUSS" FINN HAS BEEN MAKING WAVES IN THE NASHVILLE MUSIC SCENE FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS OR SO VIA DIALUP GHOST