2015 Favorite : Dirty Ghosts

This San Francisco group released a single earlier this year called "Cataract" that just might end up as my favorite song of the year. Their new wave Pop hooks are undeniably catchy. Growing up in the '80s my passion for alternative music started with artists like Nik Kershaw, Thomas Dolby, Devo, Howard Jones, and The Flirts so I find the music of Dirty Ghosts to be a modern variation of these earlier groups. Their songs are melodic yet they carry an undercurrent of melancholy and angst. Their new album Let It Pretend came out in October on Last Gang Records but consider yourselves warned. Many of these songs have earworm like tendencies so be prepared to have them stuck in your head for days at a time.

Polyphonic Size

Almost exclusively produced by Jean-Jacques Burnel from The Stranglers, check out this synth wave band from Belgium that has been making music on and off since 1971. The line up has changed many times over the decades but they almost always had at least one woman in the band.