And if that sounds like it could be latter-days Foo Fighters anonymous, then that couldn’t be further from the truth. Huge, life-affirming rock songs, played with passion, vigour, humour and authenticity. But fuck it, I’m not going to continue picking through song-by-song because it’s all great. Think Feeder, or even the recent Dinosaur Pile-up record. “Ride or Die” is a wrong-side-of-the-tracks love song with thrash metal influences proudly worn, “Hang Yer Moon” feels 90’s Britrock in its style a combination of grunge and Ramones-style earworm melody. Where it might be easy for a band who trade in these sorts of songs to write a couple of huge rock bangers and then pad out the rest of the record, there is no such complacency here from Luke, Ross and Kyle. But it’s the remaining 7 unreleased songs on the record that are the most impressive to me, in an odd sort of way. These songs are bigger than most of the shows the band have played up to now, that’s for damn sure. “Done with Drugs” and “Doom Boy” each have some of the most glorious singalong choruses in years, “Blunt Force Concussion” leans into a college rock/slacker vibe while “One More and the Bill” is a sub-3 minute love letter to self-medication with a Brian May-influenced solo in the middle. They’re superb, right? Each of them with their own character, but continuing the trajectory from the last record, they’re immediately memorable, anthemic, relatable, and are just crying out to be played live. You may well have heard at least one or two of the singles from this record, given that 4 have been released prior to the record dropping, but if you have.well.
I really didn’t think I’d be able to say that, but it’s true. 2018’s Master Volume showed a big leap forward in songwriting craft, consistency and truly memorable moments.
So why aren’t more people losing their collective shit over this band? To be fair, they have only had 2 studio albums to their name until now. The Dirty Nil make huge, towering rock songs that could be as easily taken to heart by fans of Pup or Turnstile as they could by fans of Motörhead, Metallica or Green Day. But here’s the thing they still seem to occupy a borderline ‘cult’ slot in the alternative music world. The Ontario-based power trio have been on an extraordinary run of form since their 2016 full-length debut Higher Power, improving their live shows, their recorded output and seemingly everything else they’ve turned their hand to.
You know the phrase “use it or lose it”? I’m a bit worried that it could end up being applicable in the case of the The Dirty Nil.
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