This article also appears on www.soundsxp.com
If you're of the belief
that the music world has been crying out for a dog obsessed indie-pop
concept album about time travelling Victorian hellraisers, then it's
time to have a long, hard look at yourself. Secondly, believe it or
not, you're in luck. 'Unruly Dogs' sees our heroes (Messrs Arthur
Pimmsley-Fox and Frederick Pinegar) build “a mysterious vehicle
that was said to manipulate the laws of time and space” and
travel to the modern day where they partake in womanising, clubbing
and, um, walking dogs.
The
idea behind this album is clearly a barking mad one but it would be
rash to dismiss it as a mere novelty record. Sure, it's jovial,
playful and more than a little ridiculous, yet it's perfectly
executed, diverse and crammed with imagination. 'Big City Lips' is a
foot-stomping way to start and gives 90s indie a sprinkling of 70s AM
radio dust, 'Lost Dog' is a piano-led, harmony-drenched piece of AOR
that somehow succeeds in not being naff, and 'Sweaty Wiv U' is a
Hispanic take on cheesy 90s indie-disco fodder. These are songs that
have no right to work, but they're carried with enough conviction and
insanity to make them thoroughly enjoyable. 'Unruly Dogs'
chops and changes between different styles and it's quite amazing
that the separate pieces make such a coherent entity. 'I'll Bite You'
adds big beats to 60s soul, 'Freaky Weather' and Walking The Dog'
both contain hints of The Beatles.
Overall this a
definitely a fun album; it's not designed for chin-stroking musos to
assess over one too many jazz-cigarettes, but for all its
idiosyncrasies and dog-based imagery 'Unruly Dogs' has good tunes at
its core and because of that it's worthy of investigation. The funky
'Small Faces' sums up the ethos here: “We're having a laugh with
our sound/just trying to be different from everybody else/but if you
don't like it/you don't have to buy it.” In
this case buying is recommended.
Unruly Dogs is out as a name-your-price download on November 11th.
Unruly Dogs is out as a name-your-price download on November 11th.
Unruly Dogs' website
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