Dilly Dally played Brighton Music Hall – 3/20
Torontonian noisemakers Dilly Dally headlined Brighton Music Hall with fellow Canadians Chastity.
Self-professed soft-grunge quartet Dilly Dally released their sophomore LP Heaven last September, following a fraught three-year gap from their debut that reportedly almost broke them up. The end result of powering through was an arresting set of emotionally raw noise-pop that ought to have gained more traction in last year’s best-of lists (my own included, admittedly).
In bringing those songs on the road this spring – along with some cuts from 2015’s Sore and the most aggro Drake cover you’re likely to hear this month – the band favored a shadowy stage and a whole lot of volume. Wednesday’s set at Brighton landed the best sort of ear-piercing gut-punch, visceral and heavier than the records suggest, with the serrated howl of singer/guitarist Katie Monks cutting through the roar. It was the kind of performance that makes one regret not having caught a band much sooner.
Chastity – who I saw alongside Mourn back in August – served as a noisy, emotive and otherwise well-matched opener (with, ironically [to me], considerably more light this time around).
Photos from both sets below.