By Ashli Blow
Bottles of celebration champagne being opened in a thick crowd, pouring stage lights into a dancing audience, and strong waves of rock and roll were the best ways that The Dirty Streets’ new album Movements could have been introduced last weekend.
Before their album release show at the Hi-Tone Cafe last Friday, lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Toland, drummer Andrew Denham, and I were discussing the transformation of the band’s sound and focus from their last album. Casually lounging in a seat in the backroom of the venue, Toland explained that the new album is a dynamic movement for their music that complements a new way of thinking.
“I think the songs talk about dropping old ideals, I guess, and old formats, and just doing new things. I think it’s fitting for the time right now.”
Nodding and smiling in agreement, Denham said that they had a new vibe with this album, and the band had to be more open to generate that sound. While recording their last album, Portrait of a Man, the main focus was creating a live record. This time around, they wanted to try new styles and have music where instruments worked for the songs more lyrically. Added Toland, “It use to be we would write the songs in [their] entirety—instrumentally, and then think of the vocals. Now we all will make up a few vocals before we write music, and then we’ll adapt it. It’s kind of, a more of a symbiotic relationship.”
The new album is definitely a new era for the band, and when listening to it, it shows in every aspect of the recording. From the colorful and retro album art to the passé harmonization and intriguing, vibrant riffs, The Dirty Streets have captured how keeping up with today’s sweeping changes feels all in one album.
Despite that the boys said they weren’t aiming for another live record, songs from Movements sounded as natural live as those from their first album. After our conversation, Toland, Denham, and bass player Thomas Stortz started up the show with the electric and garage-rock sounds of their song “Ramblin Rider.” Audience members moved to the beat of the throbbing kick drum and sang along with the words, “Rambling rider, live free die young, can’t look back now, because I’m already gone.”
The extremely-involved audience was energetic throughout the entire show, crowding up around the stage, singing, mimicking the band’s instrument movements and guitar riffs, and creating loud cheers of appreciation. The band generated an authentic and captivating sound while accomplishing a visually stimulating performance. Actions like Toland sliding his beer glass between the guitar’s neck and bridge for an electric edge, Stortz moving between chords on stage while picking strings on the bass, and Denham nailing beats on his drum kit kept the show alive and responsive.
In 2009, their debut Portrait of a Man established a unique sound influenced by nostalgic rock bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Grand Funk Railroad. After years of playing those songs, fans at Friday’s show reacted with excitement, as if they were hearing them live for the first time. New songs played from the new album, Movements, were listened to intensively and appreciated as if they were well-known anthems.
After five years of being together, it’s safe to say that the band has taken their music to the next level both musically and intellectually. Harmonization loops in songs like title track “Movements” and “Cloud of Strange,” carefully place instrumentals, and creative, meaningful lyrics make for an unrivaled listening experience, whether you are listening to it live or the recorded version.
The Dirty Streets are working to put the new record out on vinyl, but right now are focused on an upcoming small tour in the Southeast this winter. You can listen to some songs from the new record on Bandcamp.
Photos by Amanda Gahan
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