The Dirty Nil/Greys/Bullfighter/Passengers/Punch Drunk Tagalongs (in the Locker Room)

On Higher Power, the 2016 release from the Dirty Nil, things get heavy very fast. Right out of the gate, the band blazes punk chord structures across a borderline sludge metal landscape. It’s an effective strategy, one that touches on a number of much-beloved modern music traditions (including, e.g., emo, pop punk, shoegaze at times). With tunes like “Zombie Eyed,” the Dirty Nil taps into something youthful, aggressive and fun. And that’s the whole ethos of the band, it seems. “Our band was also just a way of learning how to play music together,” guitarist Luke Bentham told Noisey last year, discussing their roots. (Eric Sandy)