Crack that whip! Hamilton, Ontario’s rowdiest sons The Dirty Nil return revitalised on fifth album, The Lash.
Freedom suits The Dirty Nil. A few years ago, the Ontario punk rockers cut themselves loose from the designs of industry bods blowing smoke up their arses, and instead revelled among the flames of those thwarted expectations. In other words, by refusing to play the game, The Dirty Nil rediscovered their mojo.
That much is obvious from the bold salvo of cranked guitars and thundering drums that greets The Lash’s opening track, Gallop Of The Hounds. Now stripped back to founding duo and lifelong brothers in rock, Luke Bentham (vocals/guitar) and Kyle Fisher (drums), The Dirty Nil sound revitalised as they dispatch buzzsaw riffs and even breezy pop flourishes that weirdly complement the Sabbathy grooves that follow. Horns raised, tongues in cheek, The Nil are back.
That sense of chutzpah courses throughout The Lash. Take Do You Want Me, for example, a sub-two-minute banger built around a stuttering chorus that wastes no time in lodging in your memory. Luke’s irrepressible guitar solos sound gnarlier, yet more focussed than ever on Fail In Time. Where fourth album Free Rein To Passions occasionally sounded like it was hastily written on the back of a pizza box, The Lash is on-point and packs a mighty sting.
Yet for all the hellraising, The Lash also has room for – is it even possible? – a more mature side of The Nil. This Is Me Warning Ya is a genuine surprise, with Luke accompanied only by a low-key picked guitar and subtle string embellishments that lift his musings on depression. It’s no Nothing Else Matters, but it works precisely because The Dirty Nil have always drawn as much from the gallows humour of country great John Prine as they have James Hetfield’s beastman chugging or Cheap Trick’s power pop antics.
By cutting out the noise, The Dirty Nil have made something that sounds most like them. Whip-smart, high-spirited and cackling in the face of adversity, The Lash is their best album in years.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Dinosaur Pile Up, Weezer, Drug Church
The Lash is released on July 25 via Dine Alone
