Dog Day: Hell on Earth
Frisky guitar and vocals highlight a welcome return by the Halifax indie rock combo.
By Kerry Doole
Dog Day – Hell on Earth (Fundog): News of a new album from this indie rock band from Halifax is heartening to this scribe, a long-time major fan. Present, set for release on Aug. 14, is certainly overdue, given that the previous album, Fade Out, came out seven years ago.
The core creative couple in Dog Day, Seth Smith & Nancy Urich, have in recent years focused on film-making. A 2017 feature The Crescent, was critically-lauded, and has been followed by an upcoming sci-fi feature, Tin Can.
Amidst their cinematic work, Smith and Urich reconvened with original Dog Day drummer KC Spidle (Diamondtown/Bad Vibrations) and newcomer Meg Yoshida (Not You/Bad Vibrations) to record Present.
This advance track captures the band's distinctive sound neatly. There are definitely echoes of The Cure here, while the friskiness of the guitar, Smith's vocals, and female harmonies keep things moving along in appealing fashion.
A press bio describes the Dog Day sound as "gloom-pop," but the infectious nature of the post-punk hooks and riffs invigorates rather than depresses. The first two albums, 2007's Night Group and 2009's Concentration, deserved a better fate, but they still grab rotations on my turntable. Early listens to Present are highly encouraging.
Links
PR: Trevor Murphy, Pigeon Row
