Dublin stalwarts Revolution For Dogs have just released their debut, ‘Baptism of Fire’. The album includes a number of previous singles and this collection brings all the tracks together for maximum impact.
There’s only one way to play this album, yep, loud. It starts with ‘Mission to the Sun’, a cyber rock song with a pumping bass line and swirling synth sounds. The synth feeling continues into ‘Home’ where its met head on by prog rock, making quite an interesting sound.
Produced by Liam Mulvaney, this ten track album really doesn’t have a bad song on it. The band don’t mince their words either, which is nice. ‘Tommy’ tells the story of poor auld Tommy who goes nuts and kills the neighbours. And that’s just the first verse. It’s a dark driving track with some great drumming. It’s a no bullshit rock album which veers from prog rock to indie stopping off at some drug infused gems (Blondie). Think strings, bells and Lucy in the Sky.. and you’ll have a rough idea.
‘Camp X-Ray’ kicks the tempo back up again after ‘Blondie’. The production and mixing on the track makes for interesting listening. The danceable ‘Save Me’, has a memorable melody and quirky hooks. The sing-along chorus would obviously make this a live favourite. The band make great use of subtle strings here again and synths sounds that you can’t quite figure out.
‘Vampyr (of The Soul)’, is brash, in your face and features vocal harmonies that wouldn’t be out of place on a Brit Pop album. Revolution for Dogs are definitely a complicated band. Their influences can be dissected but they bring them all together so cleverly to create their own sound. Just when you think the album maybe easing to the end, ‘Let Yourself Go’, comes along and shakes your lugholes again. Hard dirty rock at its best, nice guitar hooks, driving rhythms.. winner. Follow that up with ‘Shadow of the City’ and by the end it’s a disappointment to find out there’s only one track left.
“Music In Her Mind’ isn’t quite like anything else on the album, dance style beats, vocoder vocals over a clean guitar building up to a melodic hook. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it was from ‘All American Rejects’ or ‘Foundations of Wayne’. I love the combination of styles and genres.. really like it.
This has turned out to be an enjoyable and surprising album. I can’t believe I’ve been stupid enough to have this CD sitting beside me for over a month.. eejit, It’s a cracker, I need catch up time.