Tuesday December 7

THE DIRTY NIL

CHASTITY

AMERICAN TELEVISION

$20 / Doors at 7:30

It's been a hard year's decade. At this point, 2020 is a leading contender for Worst Year of the 2020s: A global pandemic, raging wildfires, mass unemployment, authoritarian violence in the streets, an uncommon amount of racist assholes with mainstream-media platforms—and sure, let's throw killer hornets into the mix, too. These are the sort of unprecedented times that inspire artists to look inward, take stock of our current condition, and produce topical works of great importance that will unite and inspire an emotionally distressed population. Alas, we regret to inform you that, on their third album, Hamilton, Ontario-based power trio The Dirty Nil have done none of these things. This record features no songs about isolation, imminent apocalypse, or the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity, however, there are tunes about dysfunctional relationships, getting your bike stolen, idiots on the internet, the anxiety of entering your 30s, and listening to Slayer in your Dodge Caravan because you're overcompensating for turning into a soccer dad. In other words: all the shit you were worried about before you started Googling the words "viral load trajectory," and all the shit that'll still be weighing on your mind long after you can start coughing in your friends' faces again without fear.