By Erin Goss
SDUN Reporter

Once again the proverb proves itself true for music fans as local band Dirty Sweet prepares to hold its CD release party for their sophomore album, “American Spiritual,” three months after the fact. While the band is arriving to the scene a little late, they do so with good cause—at the time of the album’s debut, the men of Dirty Sweet were on an extensive European tour.

As the band prepares for their release party at The Casbah on July 16, guitarist Nathan Beale reflected on the anticipation of once again playing local shows.

“Playing locally is sometimes a little more nerve wracking, only because there are always so many friends and acquaintances,” he said. “It’s difficult to try and talk to everyone you know when your main focus is just playing a great show. Being on tour there’s a little more mystery and anonymity.”

However, Beale admits that local shows do have one unbeatable advantage that most people take for granted: “Getting to sleep in our own beds!”

Even from first glance the soon-to-be-celebrated “American Spiritual” is a record to be reckoned with. The cover art, a ghostly sketch of an animal skull with teeth barred, ready to attack even from beyond the grave, is unquestionably rock ‘n’ roll.

The equally macabre and sacred artwork appropriately takes after the album’s title track.

“That song came first. It seemed like the cross between an old African American hymn or spiritual and something of Native American origin. I guess I just combined the two descriptions and came up with ‘American Spiritual.’ It fit with the theme and concept of the album already, so it was perfect to use as the title,” Beale said.

Yet while the title track exudes a sense of timeless, old America Beale describes the inspiration for the majority of the album as surprisingly modern, citing the muse as “the culmination of our experiences living as an American in today’s society.”

“The themes on the record range from politicians, mental illness, idolatry, religion, relationships, economic collapse, murder, government corruption and war,” he said. “We tried to give the album as much diversity as possible within the framework of rock n’ roll.”

In addition to addressing a slew of current issues on “American Spiritual,” like true musicians Dirty Sweet took on the challenge of perfecting the music itself. Beale admitted to striving to achieve a “sound” that was unique, slightly less classic rock and most importantly a distinguishable style.

Dirty Sweet is clearly on the right track in establishing an identity because their efforts have been paying off for some time now. The band, comprised of mostly San Diegan transplants, is proudly claimed and touted by its adoptive city as one of the best groups of musicians. Over the past several years Dirty Sweet has accumulated several awards from the San Diego Music Awards. Yet don’t expect to find these guys investing in a trophy case.

“As far as the SDMAs … we’re always grateful to be acknowledged by our musical peers, but as cliché as it is, we make music for ourselves and our fans—not trophies or medals.”

But Beale admitted there is a point when the flash and glamour begins to spark his interest.

“Now, if the SDMAs started giving out solid-gold statues, I might change my opinion on this matter,” he said.

For more information about Dirty Sweet, go to dirtysweetmusic.com.