‘Are you angry?’ asks Jack Horner shortly after The Dirt launch into ‘End Game’ the second track on their second album ‘Monkeypunch’. He clearly is and so should we be too – if we’re not angry at the state of the country and the world at this point in history we may as well all give up now. The scene has already been set during the intro – these are dark times requiring resistance and togetherness. What follows is a bizarrely life affirming stomp through modern times, portraying a real darkness, a rough guide to the decaying urban jungle but at the same time projecting hope. It’s a rallying cry and a call to arms but much more than that, it’s also a blistering guitar overload assault on the senses and an album that will propel The Dirt on to great things.
The husband and wife duo (Jack on words/vocals, percussion and Sachiko Wakizaka casting spells with guitars and pedals) have been building real momentum over the last 18 months or so, spreading the word via regular gigging up and down the country, tirelessly promoting themselves and other DIY acts, promoters, writers and venues on social media and just generally being out there and visible in and around the grass roots music scene. This record feels like the culmination of all that effort, a fitting end to a period of development and the start of the next bout of frantic activity. With this searing, adrenalin rush of an album behind them things will really start happening around this band…
If you’ve seen them live you’ll have a good idea of what to expect – Jack is a force of nature, wired and full of pent up barely controlled energy, spewing out words, bursting at the seams to…let it all out, exorcise the demons, purge the frustration, reveal the scabrous state of society and it’s injustices. While he leaps around the stage Sachiko cooly works her magic, the calm directing the storm, seemingly effortlessly firing out the warped and fuzzed up carnage. Whatever alchemy she works produces sounds with real bite and intensity, a hint of menace and a big dose of cool. There is an equal amount of force coming from both sides of the stage and the two very different components fit together perfectly. That’s true for the album as well – this is equally about the music, feel and vibe as it is the words and messages. The combination of the two elements is the key here – this is not just poems set to backing music or hastily chucked together lyrics; this feels like a plan.
‘Monkeypunch’ surpasses any expectation I had of it; the sound is rich and deep (no surprise as it was recorded at Jason Shaw’s Fuzzface studio), a punchy psych-punk blast of fuzzed up rock ‘n’ roll. The beats are propulsive, straightforward and dancey and the guitar sound is blistering – at times a searing future punk snarl at others sleazy alien surf riffs with a twisted rockabilly edge.
There’s some dark visions here – especially the triptych of ‘Darwins Law’ ‘Demon Seed’ and ‘Oak’ – hellish landscapes, brooding and earthy guitars, claustrophobic horror set to a defiant scathing guitar, Sachiko gleefully firing out electrostatic bursts of fuzz and reverb backed by thumping lo-fi drums. ‘Oak’ is a stunning composition, taking us even deeper into the underworld, a darkly poetic rumbling nightmare of decaying horror – a redemption song of sorts; you’d struggle to find anything as chillingly, authentically gothic sounding as this. The dystopian future is not a sci-fi nightmare, we’re living it now and The Dirt are providing the soundtrack.
Although loosely aligned with the current psych scene in the UK – they’ve shared the stage with many of the bands involved – The Dirt don’t really sit neatly in that category; this feels new, a different take, a future shock sci-fi punk with a grinding rock n roll swagger that the Mary Chain would be proud of – more a politicised grittier version of The Cramps than a strung out BJM. Twisted surf guitar and angry ranting haven’t gone so well together since the Dead Kennedys!
‘Monkeypunch’ feels to me like exactly what we need right now – a rightfully agitated antidote to the poison we feel around us every day, a reminder that music can make a statement and take a stand without needing to be pious and miserable – because this album kicks arse musically and will get audiences bouncing and revelling in the infectious energy and joy. A welcome, rousing assault on the senses and the imagination.
Are you angry? – you should be. Are you dancing? – you will be.
Protest and survive with a grin on your face! Welcome to the ‘Monkeypunch’
Released August on Sister 9 Recordings Gary Powell, May 2025
