The Dirt are back with a new album after a thirty month gap. In that time they have scaled the length and breadth of the country and now hit us with a Monkeypunch. Released on independent label Sister9 Recordings.
The Dirt are Pennines based Jack and Sachiko, a marital Anglo-Japanese couple who create alternative psychedelic sonic punk fused tracks, not fearing to straddle or uncompromisingly merge genres as they seamlessly bend the rules. Combining guitar loops with effects and distortion and heavy percussion with the fast-firing lyrics.
Recorded by Jason Shaw at Fuzz Face Studios, Scotland, the noisy pair have come a long way since their maiden gig just over three years ago. The Dirt say “Monkeypunch elevates you to the next level. Where Agitator highlighted global issues and its decline. This beast is the call to arms to fight back and regain control. There’s no hiding that for Humanity to exist and the planet to survive, we need change and fast!”
We recently had a chat with the band (read me!) and so it was only fitting after building the hype we had a listen to album. The first two tracks make a strong stance. The thought provoking opener ‘Intro (Truth Extinction) which tells you a lot about who they are, and what they serve up, cold and unadulterated. The dancier ‘End Game’ packs a real hit live and recorded it is equally corrosive, bringing the lyrical prowess of Jack to the front, and the hypnotic layered soundscapes of Sachiko weave in and out of your consciousness. Other stand out tracks include single ‘Bed of Nails’ which has an impossibly catchy countenance, drawing you in deeper with every rotation, ‘Gaelor’ which has more than a touch of The Fall about it (in all the right ways) and ‘Demon Seed’ which is an epic for which you have to strap in and hold on tight.
Monkeypunch is caustic and abrasive, not shirking from issues others run screaming from. It makes you think, questions your own beliefs, and in times like these isn’t that what we all need? Make up your own mind.
Listen in full, and buy here
