Review: The Dirty Nil – “Fuck Art”

Dine Alone Records – 01 Jan 2021

Fuck 2020, Fuck Art Is Fucking Delightful

Memes abound as 2020 came to a close mocking the ideas that everything would be perfect once the ball dropped. We all knew COVID wasnt going away on the 1st, but Canada has come to set 2021 off on the right foot thanks to Fuck Art, the latest from Ontario’s Dirty Nil. The album bops in all the right spots, it is a banger of an opening for 2021.  I’m being a bit cheeky when I refer to Fuck Art as the best album released in 2021 but I have feeling 11 months from now I will still consider this one of the tops.

Before the first listen the album was already intriguing thanks to the stoned looking retriever set against blue skies and fluffy clouds adorning the cover.  In a post-COVID world it’s hard to tell if this was a sincere look into the humor and fun contained within the album or a more telling “living the dream” sarcastic cry for simpler times.  Turns out the album is chock full of both.

The Dirty Nil blend arena-rock epicness while subtly blending punk, thrash and power into a pop-rock cocktail; halfway between the saccharine of a mimosa and the aggression of a molotov.  I never expected to hear Slayer, The Cro-mags and Turnstile all referenced in a love song, but these sons of bitches pulled it off on album opener “Doom Boy”.  This is the song Lloyd Dobbler should’ve played on his boombox outside Diane Court’s window because let’s be honest here Lloyd Dobbler isn’t listening to Peter god damn Gabriel (fun fact, John Cusack was actually blasting Fishbone in the scene). 

There’s a humor to Fuck Art, but don’t let the sarcasm blind you to the sentiments.  It’s easy to crack a smile when guitarist/vocalist Luke Bentham states his intentions to stick his date with the bill, but that doesn’t cover up the anxiety and fear when he sings “Give me one half dozen blunt force concussions Crack my head in two Just don’t put me through saying I love you.”

That’s really the crux of the record and a lesson the world needs right now sometimes its better to laugh after you step in shit rather than spend your days looking for paths to avoid it.  This album was written in the deepest throes of the pandemic and Ontario’s lockdown, but impressively enough, there is not a single song about isolation, no whining about being stuck inside and no despair over the impending armageddon. Instead it is upbeat and catchy brimming with choruses telling tales of maturation, toxic relationships and stolen bikes.  From the humorous approach to outgrowing your vices found in “I’m Done With Drugs” to the happiest sounding revenge ballad “To The Guy Who Stole My Bike” The Dirty Nil are the musical equivalent of a wild rumpus.  Fuck Art is fun and silly and honest and heartfelt, a sincere escape amd acceptance that is much appreciated after the fustercluck of 2020. 

Bentham along with bassist Ross Miller and drummer Kyle Fischer close out the album with “One More and the Bill,” and honestly it may be the best closing track premise possible.  Maybe it’s the longing for a night out with watered down and overpriced drinks with friends but there is a romance to the “this is the last one then I need to head out” conversation we’ve all had for two hours leading up to last call.  The Dirty Nil know tough times aren’t over with 2020, but they aren’t afraid to try to delude themselves or us into thinking we are coming up on the finish.

Fuck Art is brilliant, smart, funny and heartfelt… in other words its healing in aural form.