Dilly Dally blazes in first L.A. show at the Bootleg Theater
Kevin Bronson on
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Toronto noise-punk quartet Dilly Dally’s first show in Los Angeles was a businesslike affair. Playing to a modest crowd Tuesday night at the Bootleg Theater, singer-guitarist Katie Monks said all the right things, made little jokes with guitarist Liz Ball and told a couple of anecdotes about the origins of certain songs.
Their business, though, is unleashing a torrent of naked aggression, articulated by Ball’s caustic guitar leads and Monks’ piercing, groaning snarl (think a schoolgirl doing Kurt Cobain). With the rhythm section of bassist Jimmy Tony and drummer Benjamin Reinhartz providing the we-really-mean-this muscle, the coed quartet delivered 40 minutes of unvarnished fury.
Monks, the sister of Tokyo Police Club bassist David Monks, kicked off the set with “Snake Head,” one of the boldest tracks from Dilly Dally’s debut, “Sore” (just out on Partisan Records). It’s something of an apology. “I never meant to hate you,” she yowled as Ball punctuated the confession with prickly licks. “Snakes are coming out of my head and there’s blood between my legs.”
From there, the band broke into “Ballin Chain” and their 2014 single “Candy Mountain,” before ripping through all but one song from “Sore”: “Gender Role,” “Purple Rage,” “Get to You,” “Green,” “Next Gold” and “Alexander,” all blasted while Monks, wearing a METZ T-shirt, sang with her head slightly tilted, eyelids fluttering and eyes occasionally rolling back, as if summoning something truly primal. “The Touch” and “Desire,” two of the most sexually charged songs on “Sore,” concluded the set, and by the end 40 minutes felt like 10.
L.A. quartet Death Hymn Number 9 preceded Dilly Dally with a typically visceral set: Minor Threat speaking in tongues, or something like that.
And power trio Goon opened the night with 35 minutes of next-wave psychedelic grunge, gutteral but melodic; they’re one of a (thankfully) growing batch of L.A. bands going beyond creative crate-digging in search of something more meaty.
Postscript: Dilly Dally released a new video today.
||| Watch: The David Waldman-directed video for “The Touch”
||| Previously: “Desire”
[…] The song is the highlight of Dilly Dally’s album, “Sore,” out last fall. After blowing some hair back on their first visit to L.A. in November, the quartet — Liz Ball, Katie Monks, Benjamin Reinhartz and Jimmy Tony — return […]