The Hamilton, Ontario band, The Dirty Nil, known for their glitter and glam now charge headfirst into something far more visceral and back-to-basics on their fifth studio album, “The Lash”, out on July 25th, 2025, via Dine Alone Records.
Without a moment to overthink, “The Lash” poured out of The Dirty Nil, and they recorded the entire record in just over two weeks with up-and-coming producer and their actual front-of-house engineer, Vince Solveri. The result finds the band sounding more urgent and alive than ever before.
Out today, score-settling barnburner “Gallop of the Hounds” is the kind of song that sounds like a train car barreling towards you with no brakes or way to slow down. It sets the tone for what to expect throughout “The Lash” — even with its standout quiet moments, the record is an uncompromising sprint through themes of self-reckoning and the illusion of revenge.
Everything about “The Lash” evokes a certain sort of brutality. During a trip to the Vatican, vocalist / guitarist Luke Bentham found inspiration in some of its forgotten art. “I was in a very dusty part of the basement, and they had these crazy bronze reliefs that were some of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen”, he recalls. “There was a particular one called The Horrors of War. It was two guys fighting over a knife. That image ended up guiding a lot of this record”.
From there, the band brought in UK designer Jack Sabbat for his acerbic, bootleg punk-flyer style, assuring “The Lash” would look right at home in a beat-up bin of old Crass records or in a Medieval torture dungeon.
Thematically, the album’s ten tracks trade Bentham’s usual happy-go-lucky romanticism for a cathartic vent session about everything from music industry bullsh*t to the dissolution of a relationship. Drummer and co-conspirator Kyle Fisher jokes: “I’ve been telling people that this is Luke’s therapy record”.
Pre-order “The Lash” here.
Tracklist:
1. Gallop of the Hounds
2. Fail in Time
3. That Don’t Mean It Won’t Sting
4. Rock ‘n’ Roll Band
5. This Is Me Warning Ya
6. Do You Want Me?
7. Spider Dream
8. They Won’t Beat Us
9. Hero Narrative
10. I Was A Henchman
Formed in 2006, The Dirty Nil have always leaned more towards the flashier side of punk, but “The Lash” finds them stripping everything back to what matters most: no frills, just playing like their lives depend on it.
For fans of bands like The Jesus Lizard, The Bronx, and Metz, The Lash is a high-stakes rock record from a group that’s spent over a decade delivering unrelenting live performances, building a global fanbase, and even winning a Juno Award for Breakthrough Band in 2017. They’ve played the game and done the dance for long enough; this is The Dirty Nil back on their own terms.
US Tour Dates 2025:
June 04: PITTSBURGH Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall
June 05: BUFFALO Rec Room
June 08: ALBANY Empire Underground
June 10: BOSTON Brighton Music Hall
June 11: LONG ISLAND Amityville Music Hall
June 13: BROOKLYN Brooklyn Meadows
June 14: PHILADELPHIA The Foundry @ The Fillmore
June 16: ALLENTOWN Archer Music Hall
June 17: RICHMOND The Canal Club
June 19: DURHAM Motorco Music Hall
June 20: GREENVILLE The Radio Room
June 21: ORLANDO The Social
June 22: MIAMI Gramps
June 24: ATLANTA The Loft
June 25: NASHVILLE Eastside Bowl
June 27: ST. LOUIS Delmar Hall
June 28: INDIANAPOLIS Hi-Fi
June 29: LEXINGTON Manchester Music Hall
Junly 08: DETROIT The Shelter
Junly 09: MILWAUKEE Vivarium
Junly 10: CHICAGO Bottom Lounge
Junly 11: HAMILTON Because Craft Beer Festival*
Junly 12: RAPID CITY Aby’s Rapid City
Junly 13: DES MOINES Wooly’s
Junly 16: OMAHA The Waiting Room
Junly 18: LAWRENCE The Bottleneck
Junly 20: COLORADO SPRINGS The Black Sheep
Junly 21: DENVER Marquis Theater
Junly 23: SALT LAKE CITY Soundwell
Junly 24: BOISE Shrine Social Club
Junly 25: SEATTLE The Crocodile
Junly 26: VANCOUVER Rickshaw Theater
Junly 27: PORTLAND Hawthorne Theatre
Junly 29: SACRAMENTO Goldfield Trading Post
Junly 30: BERKELEY Cornerstone Berkeley
Junly 31: FRESNO Strummer’s
Aug 01: LOS ANGELES Lodge Room Highland Park
Aug 02: MESA The Nile Theater
Aug 04: EL PASO Lowbrow Palace
Aug 05: DALLAS RBC
Aug 06: SAN ANTONIO Paper Tiger
Aug 08: AUSTIN Come and Take It Live
Aug 09: OKLAHOMA CITY Beer City Music Hall
* (The Dirty Nil only)
(w/ Heart Attack Man)
European Tour Dates 2025:
Oct 09: VIENNA Szene
Oct 10: STUTTGART Club Cann
Oct 11: SCHWEINFURT Statbahnhoff
Oct 12: MILAN Legend 54
Oct 14: ZURICH Dynamo
Oct 15: WIESBADEN Schlachthof
Oct 16: HAMBURG Knust
Oct 18: OBERHAUSEN Common Thread Tour
Oct 19: BRUSSELS Common Thread Tour
Oct 20: HAARLEM Common Thread Tour
Oct 22: BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Oct 23: MANCHESTER New Century Hall
Oct 24: NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Oct 25: LONDON Common Thread Tour
Oct 26: LEEDS Common Thread Tour
(w/ Spanish Love Songs + on the Common Thread tour)
