Here come the Dog, the collective already causing a stir on the South coast having supported Easyworld, Longview and Cosmic Rough Riders. Their style has running through it a sound reminiscent of bands like The Coral, The Zutons, The Bandits et al, what with it having plenty of twanging geetars and dramatically shifting tempo changes. This is most evident on opener 'This Is You Life', suggesting what the aforementioned bands may have sounded like if they'd crawled out of the Channel instead of the Docks. Second track 'Into The Space Age' switches from rattling mid-fi guitar pop to slower atmospherics and back again several times, almost as if two CDs have been cut into pieces and welded together as one in an effective manner. In a similar fashion, 'Forever And A Day' glides along nicely in its 'Lost Souls'-era Doves way, but then revs up to a thrashy, clangy burst of indie-punk like The Bees gone all Hives.
Variety doesn't stop there either. 'Plastic People' is a far more angsty affair soaked in creeping broodiness, what the Cooper Temple Clause making Bernard Butler's cut-and-paste ransom note out of Horse & Hound back issues might sound like. And, to round off the demo's proceedings, there is a live version of 'Human Nature' that exudes the ramshackle charm of a Scallydelic Libertines. Over all, then, a very promising collection of songs that, although yet to live up to the standard of their most evident influences, has a refreshing variety that suggests they'll amass a stunning back catalogue.
Now stroke their coats.
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7Thomas Blatchford's Score