The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art 
Release Date: Out Now
On 1st January 2021
Canadian rockers the Dirty Nil unleashed their latest album ‘Fuck Art’ on the world
and what did they put on the cover? An adorable puppy. That’s how they roll and
I love them for it. The album starts with the metal fury that is ‘Doom Boy’,
all furious guitars and thundering drums but with a killer chorus which brings
to mind the likes of Dinosaur Pile-Up as they mix the heavy with the sweet. ‘Blunt
Force Concussion’ slows things down a bit but we’re still in Blink 182 meets
Panic! At the Disco territory as the chugging guitars and melodic vocals blend
perfectly.
On ‘Elvis ‘77’, the trio give the
melodies the steering wheel and pull out one of the most infectious choruses
currently being shouted out atop a meaty riff. As you might expect, ‘Done With
Drugs’ is a rock’n’roll ode to going straight and, honestly, it never sounded
so good as they sing “I’m done with drugs, I ain’t doing it for no-one, I’m
just giving them up”. By the time ‘Ride or Die’ comes around, I’m imbued with
the same feeling as when I started discovering bands like Everclear or the
Ataris while ‘Hang Yer Moon’ pops out a killer bass line and the kind of chorus
that brings the Pixies to mind. I would be so bold as to say that ‘Damage
Control’ is my favourite tune on the album as it starts to veer towards Foo
Fighters sized riffs without losing that melodic punk ethos.
‘Hello Jealousy’ is a serious
slab of rock’n’roll powered by the aforementioned thunderous drums which gives
way to ‘Possession’, a track that comes from the Thin Lizzy school of
songwriting but with slicker vocals. As we round the final bend, the bitter
ballad ‘To The Guy Who Stole My Bike’ brings Silverchair in their prime or
early Reuben to mind as the lyrics, dripping in sarcasm, sting with each
delivery. The final track is ‘One More and the Bill’ and you would be forgiven
for thinking the Killers had been jamming at the end of a lock-in at a pub to
create a slick drinking anthem for the permanently inebriated. I love this
album, I love the cover and I love the tunes that rock from start to finish
but, most of all, I love that it was released on the first day of 2021 – you can
almost hear the hangovers still begging for mercy.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/thedirtynil