Dilly Dally

An indie rock outfit based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dilly Dally fuses straightforward melodic lines and atmospheric lyrics with an aggressive, forceful guitar approach. Longtime friends Liz Ball and Katie Monks established the group in 2009 after knowing each other since high school, where they bonded over their shared enthusiasm for the Pixies and the Strokes before entering the city’s noise rock circles. Monks drew added encouragement from the success of her brother David Monks in Tokyo Police Club. Ball handled guitar duties while Monks took lead vocals and guitar. Early lineups proved unstable, with three separate rhythm sections rotating through frequent performances at Canadian independent venues that gradually built grassroots attention. In 2013 the band connected with producers Josh Korody and Leon Taheny, who guided initial studio recordings that yielded the self-released debut single “Next Gold” in spring 2014. The follow-up track “Candy Mountain” arrived that fall and drew strong coverage from outlets including Pitchfork and Noisy. By then the group had secured a stable rhythm section consisting of bassist Jimmy Tony, previously of Mexican Slang, and drummer Benjamin Reinhartz, formerly of Beliefs. Mounting press interest and audience growth prompted Partisan Records to sign the band for the United States, resulting in the October 2015 release of the full-length album Sore. That effort earned a 2016 Polaris Prize longlist placement and a 2017 Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year. The band returned in 2018 with its second album, Heaven.