DUGGALO PLANET
A DIALUP GHOST NEWSLETTER
Truck and D↑G outside the Bunker, photo by Sarah Boggan
Dialup Ghost LP5 is Imminent
In May 2024, we spent a three-day-weekend with Truck at Bunker Noise to record our fourth album May You Live Forever in Cowboy Heaven. In September of 2025, we went back and did it again.
Earlier this year, we learned half the band were having babies. Having babies means it’s harder to get together and make music. So we decided to stop playing shows and work on new material so we can bang out one more album before the babies arrive.
We recorded 11 songs September 12 through 14. Ten original songs and one cover song (our first ever) will make up our fifth studio album. We decided to keep the album as a document of that weekend—-no later sessions to fix any mistakes or do additional overdubs. Aside from mixing and mastering, the album was done in those three days.
DGLP5 is recorded and mixed and sequenced. All it needs is mastering, then we’ll make some proper announcements. Expect the new album early in 2026.
RUSS RECS
I mostly started this newsletter because I wanted to recommend music. I am constantly digging and always finding gold. Here’s some stuff worthy of your attention.
The Company Car – Sideways (2025)
This past June, I played a show at Betty’s in West Nashville with Chicago’s The Part Timers and local Nashville band The Company Car. Both bands are incredible, and I really think it’s one of my favorite shows I’ve ever played. The Company Car released their debut 5-song EP Sideways in April of this year, and it’s easily one of my favorite releases of 2025.
Sideways is a slick production made by really talented musicians. The fully-realized country / soft rock sound is adorned with synthesizers, saxophone, and pedal steel. Certainly, The Company Car would sound great backing any songwriter, but Beau William’s songwriting is what really elevates The Company Car’s debut.
On opening track “Darkness”, Williams drops the listener into the middle of a Southern Gothic dispute with “I’m not talking to you my friend without a witness later on”–a Hell of a great opening line if you ask me. Williams’ mix of crypticism and careful selection of detail in his storytelling creates a back and forth pull between mystery and clarity. The lyricism is quite remarkable for a debut record, and most Nashville indie rockers would be lucky if their songs were half this good.
My favorite is closer “Sneaky” which seemingly scrutinizes the specific moment an ill-feeling comes upon you. Williams starts the song with “You caught it real tired coming home,” then details the character’s bewilderment and worsening condition throughout the song:
“You’re pulling out of work, you’re feeling worse / It’s got you analyzing every nerve for where it hurts, pull a quick reverse / And microwave another frozen dinner.” “Sneaky” is bouncy and fun, adding a perfect meta-layer as Williams sneaks melancholy into all the lyrics.
The Company Car’s debut EP is an absolutely killer document by a very great band. I am very much looking forward to whatever they make next.
Beaver Nelson – The Last Hurrah (1998)
While I wrote this newsletter, I listened* to The Last Hurrah by Austin singer/songwriter Beaver Nelson. I found Beaver Nelson’s music when digging through the “Fans also like” section for Antsy McClain (an artist I will have to write about another time) on spotify.
Given the quality of Nelson’s debut, I’m astounded by the obscurity of The Last Hurrah and the additional eight albums he’s released since. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, and Nelson has a huge cult following. As of this writing, Spotify shows he has 271 monthly listeners. Nevertheless, digging through his website and wikipedia page, he has evidently received critical acclaim and press throughout his career. In 2000, the Austin Chronicle wrote:
“If there’s any justice, and it goes without saying there rarely is in the music business, Beaver Nelson will be the next Austin artist to break big.”
The Last Hurrah is a really nice country rock album that fits right in with the 90s altcountry boom. To my ears, Nelson’s sound recalls Whiskeytown and Frog Holler. If you are a fan of 90s altcountry at all, The Last Hurrah is well worth your time. I bought the CD for a few bucks, and you can buy basically all his albums on CD for cheap on Discogs.
*I also listened to John Prine’s Diamonds in The Rough, Ennio Morricone’s Veruschka soundtrack, and some old Atlas Sound demos while writing this newsletter.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
I’m not an art critic, but I have taste. I follow some cool visual artists online, and I’m going to tell you to follow them too.
thoughtographic (Justin McElroy)
Justin McElroy (@thoughtographic on social media) is the artist who drew our last album cover. He specializes in black pen illustrations, typically depicting fantasy settings and characters. I somehow found him on twitter a while back, and knew I wanted to commission him when I saw his drawings of The Thing and The Thing. If you want a cool album cover like May You Live Forever in Cowboy Heaven, Justin is your guy.
Lomaho
Lomaho is an artist I follow on Instagram who makes these cool poetic pencil comics and posts them on their page. From their website, I gather they are a great oil painter who makes cool art zines and comic collections. I know nothing else about this mysterious artist, but I really like what they’re doing.
In Memoriam
Todd Snider
In 2024, I stopped listening to streaming services and started buying cheap CDs. I bought a portable CD player that has all the bells and whistles you could imagine—-blue tooth, two headphone jacks, memory card storage, charges with USB cable, doesn’t skip ever—-I love this thing. To satisfy my listening needs and my eagerness to use this new CD player, I began collecting altcountry CDs, primarily from the 90s and early 2000s. (Folks, most of these CDs cost between $2 and $5 and a lot of them aren’t even on streaming services—-this is the way.)
I would comb through the internet, digging as deep as I could to find the obscure, the acclaimed, the forgotten, and the popular. I amassed a huge wantlist of CDs. One of these CDs was Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables by Todd Snider. I never obtained a copy, and still haven’t listened to it.
Earlier this year, I did start listening to Snider’s 2004 album East Nashville Skyline and couldn’t believe my ears. The album is so funny and clever and full of wisdom, written by a guy who was calling himself an old timer in his late 30s. I felt stupid for never listening to him before—-his brilliant satirical songwriting and his whole vibe in general are completely in line with my taste.
If you’re unfamiliar with any of his work, I have to recommend you check out “Conservative, Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males.” No need to analyze the lyrics—-the song speaks for itself. Dialup Ghost rehearsed a bunch of cover songs for a Halloween show this year and included “Conservative, Christian” in our set. We didn’t get to play it during our set, but I did break it out and sing it during a jam session later in the night.
A couple days after I sang his song, Todd Snider was in the news for being hospitalized and jailed, cancelling his latest tour supporting his new album High, Lonesome and Then Some. Two weeks after that, he was dead.
When I went home for Thanksgiving, I asked my dad if he knew of Todd Snider. He excitedly went “Yeah!” and gave me a copy of his new CD. My mom overheard us and said “Are you guys talking about Todd Snider?” Apparently my parents were fans of/familiar with his music, meanwhile I live in East Nashville and was out of the loop until this past summer. Ain’t that something.
Being a music fan is strange some times. I’m not going to try to say anything poignant or deep. Todd Snider was a great singer/songwriter and I wish I could have seen him live. May he rest in peace.
Snider’s website has free downloads of nearly every song he ever recorded. He did a series of re-recording his albums in his own studio, adding commentary on select songs and albums. If you want to get intimate with his music and not spend a dime, I implore you download these sessions.
DOG ASS TV
“I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting, nothing dog ass.” – Bob Dylan
The Chair Company (2025) – Certified: NOT DOG ASS
Tim Robinson’s new show The Chair Company is hilarious and refreshing. Truly television as art. The show is very similar to his movie Friendship with Paul Rudd, and both The Chair Company and Friendship are similar to Robinson’s popular Netflix show I Think You Should Leave. Instead of skits, The Chair Company weaves absurd situations into the narrative seamlessly. The Chair Company is original and thrilling. I laughed out loud throughout.
IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) – Certified: DOG ASS
IT: Welcome to Derry freaking sucks. The spinoff/prequel to Andy Muschietti’s It films completely fumbles everything that made Stephen King’s story so frightening. The story of a demonic entity donning a clown suit, haunting a small town and feasting on its children is compelling, but the execution in Welcome to Derry is insufferable. The child actors give miserable performances. The military operation plot is stupid.
The show could still succeed if it leaned into its campiness, but it takes itself too seriously to pull off being a deliberately silly show. At this rate, I’m sticking with the show in the hopes IT will do something truly sickeningly horrific to these kids. Until that happens, I will keep tuning in and watching this dog ass show like the clown I am.
‘Nuff Said
Thanks for reading.
Peace,
Russ
