{"id":42632,"date":"2016-03-19T13:57:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T18:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=42632"},"modified":"2016-03-19T13:57:17","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T18:57:17","slug":"the-dirty-nil-higher-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2016\/03\/19\/the-dirty-nil-higher-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dirty Nil: Higher Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignright wp-image-42633\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/nil1_opt.jpg?fit=300%2C300\" alt=\"nil1_opt\" width=\"260\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/nil1_opt.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/nil1_opt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/nil1_opt-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/>\u201cPunk\u201d has to be one of the most debated labels in the history of music. In a recent interview with <a href=\"http:\/\/noisey.vice.com\/blog\/the-dirty-nil-no-weaknesses-video\">Noisey<\/a>, the members of The Dirty Nil forswore the punk label, which is honestly kind of hard to believe. The band plays an aggressive, unhinged, often fast and noisy style of rock\u2019n\u2019roll. What\u2019s not punk about that?<\/p>\n<p>The first two tracks, \u201cNo Weaknesses\u201d and \u201cZombie Eyes,\u201d have absolutely huge hooks that put both songs in the running for indie-rock song of the year. Those two songs were so good that the rest of the album was honestly kind of a let down upon first listen.<\/p>\n<p>But worry not! \u201cHigher Power\u201d is consistently good after those first two high-water marks. The band maintains the listener\u2019s attention by presenting a variety of tempos, dynamics, and song structures throughout the album. What stays consistent are the fat, ugly, and noisy guitars and pummeling drums that all sound like so many AmRep (Amphetamine Reptile Records for the uninitiated) albums before them.<\/p>\n<p>The vocals are split between guitarist Luke Bentham and bassist Dave who howl and sing throughout, shredding their vocal chords in the process.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout \u201cHigher Power\u201d is the harnessing &#8217;90s alternative, indie, and noise rock. The guitars at the beginning of \u201cLowlives\u201d sound an awful lot like <em>Siamese Dream<\/em>-era Smashing Pumpkins. The hook on \u201cZombie Eyes\u201d sounds like a noisier <em>Pinkerton<\/em>-era Weezer. The classic rock twang of Dinosaur Jr., the sardonicism of Archers of Loaf\u2026it\u2019s all here.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, one should always appreciate references to Husker Du (\u201cWrestle Yu to Husker Du\u201d). I hope yu du tu.<br \/>\n<b><br \/>\nRecommended If You Like: PUP, Rozwell Kid, Dinosaur Jr., Weezer<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Recommended Tracks: 1 (No Weaknesses), 2 (Zombie Eyes), 6 (Violent Hands)<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Do Not Play: 3 (Wrestle Yu to Husker Du), 9 (Bruto Bloody Bruto), 11 (Bury Me at the Rodeo)<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Written by Josh Gaston on 03\/19\/16 <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Higher Power harnesses the best aspects of &#8217;90s indie rock and noise rock to make one great unhinged (and hook-laden!) rock album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6019,"featured_media":42633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,3230,181],"tags":[4377,4523,4670,4522,3021,4086,4521,4669,4524],"class_list":["post-42632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","category-rock-rotation","tag-alternative-rock","tag-amrep","tag-higher-power","tag-husker-du-references","tag-indie-rock","tag-josh-gaston","tag-noise-rock","tag-the-dirty-nil","tag-weezer-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/nil1_opt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}