Take a hike back to the 1970s and steal some guitar sounds from the punks of the day (maybe like Dr Feelgood), then team them up with modern, muscular drum capture, and top the lot off in a butt-kicking song with a singer (Brittan Church) who enjoys gargling with razor blades, and you’ll begin to have an idea of what’s been built here with Dirty Little Thing.
It hares along with a terrific sense of its own purpose and knows exactly what it wants to do. It wants to get loaded and it wants to have a good time. Coming to it cold, that’s just about what I want to do, too. It’s got an absurdly massive hook as a slab of voices belt out the word ‘dirty’ in the key phrase ‘That dirty little thing’ in the chorus. The choice of harmony is perfect and look, my foot’s tapping. Well, you can’t see it, but it is. I fully expect my head to start nodding with repeat listens.
To be serious, though. Underpinned by thunderous drums and full, warm bass, Dirty Little Thing is something of a juggernaut. Its whole structure is designed to tease, building tension with rhythmic sections which don’t release in satisfying ways, all in their own turn building to the chorus, where we finally get the sugary hit we want: that ‘dirtaaaaay little thing’.
Guitars squirm and shriek the way you’d hope, and the vocals are all gravel and conviction and feel like they’re stretched to breaking point – but clearly aren’t! Mr Church wraps his voice around the words with some glee, and all of these plus points build to augment each other in a rollicking good time!
As if all that weren’t enough, there’s a tremendous coda which underlines how good the musicianship is behind the fun to be had. An adrenalin shot of a tune; I’m pumped.
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