By Jane Howkins.
Minimum R&B is a compilation album by rockers The Dirty Nil, featuring tracks from across their career, as well as a brand new, unreleased track. It’s a great collection for both new and old fans, highlighting their back catalogue for those who didn’t know of it, and reminding others of just why they fell in love with the band in the first place.
One thing we were first reminded of when listening to Minimum R&B was alternative rock band Weezer, with second song Verona Lung sounding very much like a track from the other band’s first album, which showed great for the rest of the songs. We were not let down by this expectation, as the majority of the rest are absolutely stunning, in both passion and musicality. As previously mentioned, there is very much a 1990s alt-rock sound present, but there are also elements of grunge, and punk present.
The band’s sound changes ever so slightly throughout the album, and it’s these little changes that keep you waiting with baited breath, awaiting the next track. Whilst the first song was rather Weezer-esque, the next one (Little Metal Baby Fist) felt much more grunge orientated, with a punk edge to it. This was then followed by Hate Is A Stone, which is a bluesy rocker, chugging along slowly until its final, heavy culmination. Later tracks such as Pale Blue find us reminded of The Distillers (remember them?) and it really is a testament to the band’s creativity that they’ve managed to craft such an interesting and innovative career. It’s especially amazing considering that these songs were created and released before their debut album Higher Power, as it usually takes a band a while to find themselves, yet these tracks show that they’ve been on top form for the majority of their existence together.
Minimum R&B is an excellent compilation, and one that sounds just as good as The Dirty Nil’s debut album Higher Power. We’re not entirely sure how they can top this, but their sophomore effort should be a real banger.
Minimum R&B by The Dirty Nil will be released on 28 April 2017.