10 More Perfect Grunge Albums With No Bad Songs
2. Dilly Dally: Sore (2015)
Another group keeping the unapologetic brooding of grunge alive is Dilly Dally. Katie Monks' vocals lay somewhere between the swaggeringly gruff tone of Shane McGowan and the venom spitting attitude of Courtney Love.
The opening track, Next Gold, will have you thinking this is just indie folk with a little more bite. It's tuneful and upbeat, with vague nods to Of Monsters and Men - but the gristly resonance of Monks' vocals will keep you hooked. They change things up with Purple Rage, which channels the Pixies through fuzzed-out chords lingering beneath a stinging lead.
With Ice Cream, you start picking up other influences. Most notably, early 2000s English indie rock; and more specifically, the Libertines - but it's subtle. The track opens with the kind of meandering vocal delivery Pete Doherty popularised, before reminding you that this is a grunge band first and foremost. You then have the Pogues-inspired ballad, Burned By The Cold; a slow piano-driven piece, which hears every cigarette Monks has ever smoked became apparent in her worn-out vocal cords.
This is an album that constantly surprises you at every turn, and it's damn satisfying.