Though formed in 2013 and having a well-received debut EP out four years later, Dogtooth come to The RR as a new proposition through a new two track AA sided single. A quick introduction and visit to the Scottish band’s music and previous songs revealed that they have been a potent potential fuelled enticement for a while but the new dual temptation of What For? and Away simply outshines all the exploits that came before.
As mentioned the Breakthrough EP two years back took Dogtooth to a whole new richness of attention whilst continuing to impress with their live presence. It is easy to expect recognition and praise of the band’s indie/alternative rock bred enterprise to increase now through the bold exploits of both What For? and Away; both songs confirming that theirs is a sound which is really developing its own identity.
The Killers has been suggested as a reference to the band’s music but straight away as What For? strolls through ears and especially as it settles into its eager almost teasing temptation an Inspiral Carpets like hue rises to the fore. Even so it is simply a single flavouring in the band’s indie rock audacity as the guitar and vocals of John Hewitson swing across the rhythmic enticement of bassist Craig Morrison and drummer Robert Lang. There is a great grumble to that bass which earths the loftier melodic threads which spring from the guitar while Lang’s beats just enjoyably nag throughout.
Eagerly infectious, the song is more than matched in craft and temptation by Away; it our favourite of the two with ease without diminishing the strength and impact of its companion. The track strides in with a rapacious rhythmic intent and is immediately bound in the delicious sonic wires of Hewitson’s guitar. Quickly, the song reveals a whole fresh web of imagination and devious textures to trap and enslave attention and appetite. Each twist brings potent drama and turn sets irresistible temptation, the song something akin to a mix of Asylums, The Horrors, and Scars with a hint of The Cuban Heels and quite superb.
Evolution in the band’s sound is on-going with both tracks suggesting bigger bolder things to come but there is a new maturity in their songwriting and craft which is most striking and as exciting, Dogtooth for sure heading to bigger things.
What For?/Away is released August 16th.
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Pete RingMaster 16/08/2019
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
Already renowned for his drumming, Murray is equally skilled as a composer and producer. In his own songwriting and solo sound he has drawn on inspirations ranging from Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers to Depeche Mode and Gary Numan, the latter a definite spicing to the single. Equally it has a feel of The Wonderstuff to it especially around one contagious chorus.
A “love song about a guy who can’t tell a girl he likes her”, Next To You slips into ears from a distance, swiftly waking their attention once in full presence with warm atmospheric melodies around an electronic simmering which springs the song’s subsequent catchiness. A melancholic undercurrent openly brings shadows to court the infectious elements driving the track, that sadness at the heart of its emotion a temper and incitement to the body engaging adventure lifting the encounter.
Recorded as the EP with Jamie Evans and Shane Shannahan (Jake Bugg, London Grammar, The Killers) at Westpoint Studios, Be Still quickly shows why people like BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio have been vocal in their praise of the band. A resonating guitar string and emotive vocal coaxing opens things up with both swiftly backed by punchy beats and warm harmonies. As the song rises in sound and energy, anthemic textures spring from bass and drums with drama fuelling the rich enterprise of guitars and voice around them. That Editors influence is a readily noticeable hue to the song too but a spicing only colouring a bolder Only Shadows theatre of sound and emotion. The track continues to rise and fall in its intensity and sonic fire across its body, never undulating in its persuasive roar and almost feverishly successful tempting of ears.
The seeds of the band in many ways go back to “a pair of children meeting in nursery for the first time.” They were Tom Jordan and Lewis Melia who linked up years later to form Conquer Rio in 2011. Taking inspirations from the likes of Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic, The Script, The Killers, Foo Fighters, and Arcade Fire into their own invention, the Warrington hailing band has increasingly drawn attention and support over the past years. The playing of the Etihad Stadium Magic Weekend twice, the Old Trafford Super League Grand Final in 2013, and supporting Scouting for Girls at the Warrington Music Festival are amongst their highlights to date; the release of their EP and now new single sure to rank up there as moments sparking new spotlights upon the band.
Patchwork Heart is the next proposition from the man and in many ways the coming of age of his songwriting and pop invention. Its nine tracks provide a torrent of enslaving pop ingredients but composed and delivered with an imagination and almost mischievous energy and passion. Lyrically the album sees Lewis look with intimate honesty at the tough times he faced over past years, including the death of his father from Alzheimer’s Disease and the end of a long-term relationship as well as himself being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Musically it all comes with a hope fuelled, emotionally uplifting hug though, Lewis easy to suspect a ‘glass half full’ character with sings always seeming to veer towards the long term light.
The single opens with a gentle shimmer of keys, though that is just a breath worth of a slim kiss before thick rhythms and crystalline guitar melodies entangle ears. Their relaxation brings the entrance of the expressive vocals of Harper-Ward amidst a warm yet melancholic ambience, it in turn soon immersed in a headier energy and emotive intensity with matching growth in sound. The song continues to ebb and flow with fluid enterprise and drama from hereon in, every nuance and bolder move potently engaging ears around the increasingly enjoyable vocal tones of Harper-Ward.
Alamein opens with the outstanding Black Lion, a song tantalising with almost tribal enticing from its first breath and a cascade of harmonic vocal roars, which in turn sparks a seductive stroll of meaty rhythms and tangy grooves. The song is soon strolling with a swagger and mischievous enterprise, drums and bass a prowling shadow against the bright temptation of the guitars and quickly alluring vocals. The full result is a contagious and increasingly compelling romp inventively setting the album off on a major high and setting a lofty bar for the following Misfit to match. It is a test quickly passed as an electro shimmer of an entrance evolves into a dark Stan Ridgway like pop canter, the track proceeding to flirt with spicy hooks and sparkling melodies over another tenaciously rhythmic adventure. Its colourful mix of sound is matched by a great variety of vocals across the band too, their unions a festival of creative revelry around a lively reflective narrative.
Now The Slow Readers Club is stoking the fires of those followers and greater anticipation of their new album with I Saw a Ghost. The song is themed around depression, more specifically according to vocalist Aaron Starkie, “It’s about appearing to have a normal happy life but carrying something with you that can descend at any moment and make everything appear bleak.” It is an emotion perfectly embraced and exposed by the music within the single, its body and gait a bouncy persuasion with infectious energy and character but holding onto underlying shadows and dark thoughts just as tightly. It opens with Starkie immediately unveiling his and the songs’ heart in the embrace of his own crafted keys. Alongside them the jabbing beats of David Whitworth punctuate the emotional drama being shown, whilst the throaty tones of bass from James Ryan only add to the dark air though it is all swiftly tempered by the contagious enterprise of Kurtis Starkie’s guitar amidst that tantalising celestial breath of keys.
A bluesy touch of guitar opens up the following Cliché, making way for a gentler acoustic hug and the entry of the vocals, before returning straight after with even brighter flames. The rhythms of Mullin and drummer Chris Campbell provide a firm if undemanding frame for the sonic enterprise cast by the guitars of Lee Watson and Digsy, but all together it makes for a highly enjoyable blues rock seeded stomp matched in success by Come On Down right after. Catchy from its first breath, with a chorus impossible not to lend your own tones to, the song has a strong Beatle-esque whisper to its melodies and harmonies and a riveting swing to its whole body, though it and its predecessor are shaded out just a little by the excellent I Won’t which follows them. A little pop punk, a little beat, and completely contagious, the song romps with a great mix of muscular reserve and addictive energy. It is swiftly an irresistible prospect but digs deeper with its flashes of warped devilry as hooks explode across it with discord lit tempting.