Dog Moon Howl - Dog Moon Howl (2014)
Dog Moon Howl's self-titled debut album
brings the blues together with hard rock and stoner rock, and for a
band which hails from Glasgow, they do a fully respectable job of
emulating the Delta-region sound. Throw in some buzzy, fuzzy
psychedelic guitar solos, and the band already has a distinctive
sound of their own, one which I have to imagine draws in crowds at
live shows like iron filings to a magnet. There's some friendliness
underneath the rough surface of the music, as though the band really
just wants to have a good time laying out some finely-polished songs
for their audience.
There's a pleasing sense of casual
familiarity between the performances of each band-member, though
they've only been together for a few years so far, and as they
rummage around in their bag of styles for different pieces to put
together for each song, they sound natural and unforced in their
synthesis. At the same time, there's an undeniable sense of the
heavy rock bands of the '70s over all of the songs, with craggy
guitar against melodic vocals and manly wails, while the drums just
plug away with full game and just a little muffling. Though most of
the songs are in the standard rock range (aside from the
quick'n'dirty Motörhead-channeling of “Punching Walls”), the
band also gets to preen a bit with some longer tracks on the album,
like the tight grooving and Hendrix-flavored shred solo of “Lost”
and the closing trip of “Your New King”, in which the band goes deep into the heavy end for their first finale.
Dog Moon Howl has put together a debut
of which they can rightly be proud, as they tip their hat to their
influences while building it up into something of their own. With
good ears for riffs and amp settings, they're bound to go far, as
long as they get the recognition they deserve. Do your part and snag
a copy of their album for yourself, either in CD or download format
from their BandCamp, and kick back with an album tailor-made for the
hottest days of the year.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Deep Purple,
Groggy, Kadavar, Saint Vitus, Danzig
~
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