The Dirty Nil

Cinnamon [7-inch] (2014)

Scott Murry

While Fat Wreck Chords maintains their prime surf 'n' turf with new punk material from the likes of beloved heavy hitters NOFX and Lagwagon, they are also excelling at filling in their bullpen with an assortment of fresh blood. They're branching out from the "Fat sound"they were originally known for in the nineties and it's making them even more elusive and loveable as a label devoted to quality punk bands and beats.

Their newest batch of industry rejects come with flowing maple in their streams (they're Ontario-ans) and a little flannel on their arms (sounding Seattle). This debut 7-inch record with the label, Cinnamon b/w Guided By Vices is a grand introduction to the trio known for previous rapture in tracks, "Fuck School" and "Fuckin' Up Young." With muffled vocals and buzzy, choppy riffs, this two song set shows a reigning love of all things garage and getting sloppy punk. They break some of the label conventions with their lo-fi crunchy feedback and reverb that harkens back to the finest of the grunge era. Luke Bentham's vocals bend and have a howling contest with the loose strings on "Guided by Vices." The horrendously hooky track wobbles up and down on surf rhythms and then falls apart in dynamic, heavy distortion-laden choruses. His voice screeches in and out of tune, accentuating the exhaustive explosions on "Cinnamon."

And an art note: It seems that Fat bands love to do record covers with obliviously happy people in the foreground, while some form of chaos ensues behind them. These lads may have taken a note from Reno, Nevada predecessors the Cobra Skulls' album, Bringing the War Home. This doesn't hold back their scattered style and heavy beats from creating an infectious twang though. There are just two songs, but it's fun as hell to listen to the careening rhythms over and over.