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The Dirty - Press release

The Dirty are pure anthemic sleaze in that stripped-down and open way that makes you believe that you can do what the fuck you like in this world. These boys are about the original, nihilistic energy of joy that only rock'n'roll can fully express. They are also about sex of course, and like their music The Dirty are sexy. What's more, they know it, just like they know that's what rock'n'roll can and should be about! Musically, it's a freeze-frame of wild-eyed, jammed-out and raw rock'n'roll - but without getting mixed up in a rehash of old tunes turned stale. And it's songs that The Dirty excel in. While most of their contemporaries are content with writing mere arrangements they call "songs", there is no empty posturing or bravado here - The Dirty are their songs.

A live performance is a trip back to the old school of rock'n'roll showmanship and total

on-stage abandon, forged out of a sound that is primal, low-down and - of course - dirty... Singer Kyrill struts and swaggers his angsty self with style and wit, a David Johansen for the new millennium, while guitarist Martyn will be wearing Mick Ronson's axe-crown within a matter of months! The Dirty straddle the stage like a latter day Jesus coming to raise the glowering, scowling Lazarus of rock'n'roll. Believe in them!

Full of self-belief bordering on arrogance, from the moment of their inception, The Dirty decided to play only their own game. They pressed only three copies of their initial 3-track demo and turned down many a show before they had even played one. One of the copies of the demo found it's way to PJ, the man behind Dirty Water Club, the legendary London haunt of everyone from Billy Childish to The White Stripes. The Dirty so impressed PJ after supporting The Mooney Suzuki at the club, that he agreed to release their first 7" single. "Cinnamon/Black Sugar/B-Movie Dance", recorded with Liam "Toe Rag" Watson 's right hand man Ed Deegan, came out in early 2004 and became the very first Dirty Water Records release. The Dirty are also featured on the excellent forthcoming Not The Same Old Blues Crap sampler record, This Is Punk Rock Blues on Punk Rock Blues Records along-side the likes of T-Model Ford, Jawbone and Petit Vodo.

Despite having so far played just a handful of shows, alongside the likes of The Mooney Suzuki, The French Kicks, The Mistreaters, The Midnight Evils and The Immortal Lee County Killers; and having turned down as many shows as they've played, The Dirty are already being fêted by the press. As wide a spectrum of publications as The Face and Maximum Rock and Roll are agreed in hailing them as a band to look out for in 2005. They say this year will belong to The Dirty. The Dirty, of course, never doubted that fact to begin with.

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REVIEWS OF SINGLE

"They've played just eight gigs, but have already developed a 'complicated relationship' with their audience, who have a hard time keeping up with their careering blues-rock: 'Some love it, some feel like they've been made the butt of our joke.'   We love it. "The Face, January 2004

"Ah, the sound of those early Mudhoney b-sides are obviously ringing loud in some London suburb if this record is anything to go by. Debut release for both band and label, the label from the same guys who run the Dirty Water Club, the band a quartet based in London who appear to be squaring up as the new things of London Town. The Dirty will kick ass and spit with the best of them, there's no doubt about it. 'Cinnamon' declares its intentions fair and square with the kind of sound that matches the band's name, tripped with a seriously sleazy edge and delivered with the kind of sparse primal shock treatment groove that'll give James Johnston a seizure when he hears it. Kyrill's vocals recall Mudhoney's Mark Arm, you know the type of thing, gargling with razor blades and JD. Flip over for the wired antics of 'Black Sugar', frenetic and frankly disturbed stuff, ending with the twanging snake groove of the blistering blues bliss out of 'B-Movie Dance'. And you thought the devil had all the good gear. Think again." LosingToday Magazine, January 2004

"Now, this one is worthy of your full attention. A corroded, Childish-like band plays a completely stripped, Kinksian, composition with a Who approach and an insanely rampant vocalist with a hint of Free in his larynx. "Cinnamon" instantly shreds to pieces every expectation you start to feel during this song. Ditto for the flipside. What can I say? The Dirty rock like fuck! Not only do they take you by surprise, they smack you right in the face."Nanne Tepper, Oor Magazine, Holland, January 2004

"Most suitable: the newly launched Dirty Water record label (run by those good chaps from the London club of the same name) debut with a 45 by new London group with a moniker not a million miles away from their own. And yes, it's a suitable description. The Dirty in a typically 2004 style shake up a pile of sounds from yesterday to forge their own disgruntled, primitive rock. Like the Xmas present you've been waiting on, the best of the three songs comes last: 'B-Movie Dance' rides the riff of The Omen's 1966 garage punk classic 'Searching' (which I doubt the trendy young muso-journos will pick up on) with a distinctly Asheton guitar break, whilst singer Kyrill gives the perfect proto-punk pissed off vocal. If this music continues to be the BIG thing The Dirty will be high achievers." Mike Maroon, Shindig! Magazine, January 2004

"The first release on the Dirty Water Club's in-house label is a three song garage punk assault from The Dirty, coming on like Ian Svenonius fronting a pissed off Mudhoney this makes all the right (in the red) noises. Great!" Rough Trade, December 2003

"Grunge-ey Stoner Garage single of the week comes from The Dirty. 'Cinnamon' eats most of these Blues pretenders for breakfast in 'real rock' terms & lasts approx 1 minute. This is good for two reasons: 1/ It isn't Jet 2/ It rocks like Mudhoney & isn't Kings Of Leon" Norman Records on-line review, December 2003

"The singer is called Kyrill, which we think is pretty cool, not to mention very rock'n'roll. Spunky, punky and riotous." Record Collector, December 2003

"It's pure anthemic sleaze in that stripped down and open way that makes you cherish the fact that you can do what the fuck you like in this world. 'Come Out' played live is a trip back to the old school, a freeze frame of old jammed out garage without getting mixed up in a rehash of old tunes turned stale. The Dirty excel in making things clear... the reminder they give to us all to rock out and shut the fuck up is awesome. More guitars more bass more drums more sound, there's no looking back now!" Twinstar Revolution, 2003

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LIVE REVIEWS

"...They looked NYC, all skinny legs and moptop bangs, and sounded it too with something like a CBGB version the White AeroCrowes.   This is definitely a great band!   They even did a bluesoid slide guitar thing that was both excellent and cool.   Take that, Soledad Bros!"Charley Dunlap, review of Purr show, Bath, 19th Feb 2004

"The Dirty are a band that have enjoyed much press interest, and, for once it's deserved. If The Darkness are a modern day Queen, then The Dirty would have to be Iggy And The Stooges with a small smattering of The Rolling Stones at their most dangerous. That's not an easy thing to pull off, as countless lesser bands have discovered, but The Dirty have a damned good try. The vocalist, Kyrill, is everything a vocalist should be. There's something cartoon like about him, as he cavorts around the stage, larger than life and twice as abrasive. The one thing he has that countless Iggy/Jagger impersonators lack, is a fine rock 'n' roll voice; it sounds like a nail being pulled out of wood - raw, throaty and guttural.

The Dirty are nothing if not a physical band, their set resembles nothing more than a sort of musical explosion, as band members collide with each other, drum kits are sat upon and bass players are bullied. It's violence The Dirty are pushing, and there's something real about the chaos that enfolds. "If you don't come closer", glowers Kyrill to the nervous crowd, "I'm gonna come down there" and he does. Don't stand at the front during The Dirty's gig unless you have no problem with singers screaming in your face. There's a real sense that anything could happen during this set.... It is heavily Stooges influenced, and that, of course, is no bad thing, but with the perfect delivery and strong performance you wish their songs were just a bit more memorable. That¹s quite a harsh criticism, however, as it could be because the live show is so involving and mesmerising that the songs take a while to sink in. It's as a live act that really counts, and live they're wonderful - unstoppable, scary and often downright terrifying. See them if you dare." Karl Wareham, www.cdtimes.co.uk, review of Artrocker show 27th April 2004

First up, tonight, its The Dirty, and they give us a steller show. They're the closest thing you'll get to seeing the Stones/Aerosmith/whoever circa 1970-whatever live in the flesh. Kyrill is a born superstar combining Jagger-esque barks with violence and all to a pure rock 'n' roll heartbeat.

They deserve to be absolutely massive and if bands became successful merely by being uber-talented, fun and charismatic, then they would be massive. "My guitar's out of tune," moans Marc to Kyrill, "That always happens. My one chance for a guitar-wank and you go and kick it and it goes out of tune." That sentence encapsulates both the music and the performance. See them. Karl Wareham, www.cdtimes.co.uk, review of Artrocker show 18th May 2004

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