Dog Day – “Daydream” MP3/download
I (for a change) read the press sheet for the nifty Deformer LP and found that two members of Dog Day had ditched their band to have a baby and go for a more stripped-down sound. More power to them, but my balls instantly shrink a little when I hear that a band’s relying on a scaled-back attack and/or excising members from its ranks.
Many-an indie sensation have been ruined by the fabled “less-is-more” approach, and I dug the 12-inch on Divorce Records and the older full-length on Tomlab. Furthermore, I frankly don’t take disappointment very well. It … dulls me.
Thank god Dog Day didn’t lose It, opting for a template that doesn’t suck up the intrigue like a fiend with a coke straw and raccoon eyes. I guess if The Evens, Mates Of State, The White Stripes and — if you know the ’60s — Friend & Lover could do the male-female duo and make it stick like cooked spaghetti, why can’t Nancy Urich and Seth Smith? Think of it as soft-punk, in a noble way even John Wiese never could have imagined.
More first impressions:
- Sonic Youth (no getting around that one)
- The Aisler’s Set (when Urich sings of course)
- Ex Lion Tamer
- old K Records bands (girl-fronted)
- Sebadoh
- Vivian Girls (in a good way)
- Man Benu
- Wavves, if Wavves dialed down the fuzz
- That Dog. (Petra Haden‘s first band)
A lot of indie-rock joy-juice flows through the veins of these mom-’n'-pop tracks, and if I were the type to quote Touch & Go/Merge/Matador acts ad nauseum I could name about 50 more groups that belong on the above influences/touchstones/kindred-spirits list. But hey, that ain’t me.
All of it would be useless if Urich sucked at drumming and Smith blew when it came to writing riffs and melodies, so let’s not forget how rare it is for new, original indie-rock songs — gutted like a fish no less — to make the penetrative impact these 12 arrow-tips do. I would be just fine with annhialating 50 percent of the shit bands out there just so outfits like Dog Day would be easier to find amid the gaping morass of middling music some of us have to deal with on a daily basis. It gives me the shivers just thinking about the general mediocrity that passes for innovation these days. WHAT’S HAPPENING!?!?! ARE WE ALL GOING TO DIE?
Hopefully. Until then, there’s no point in doomsdaying, naysaying or even soothsaying — just enjoy what you hold dear in this life and buy limited-edition LPs until you have no money left. Then go get five credit cards and charge those bitches to the hilt, yo! You can’t lose, I swear to you.
Before I throw out the old “love, peace and hair grease” on you I want to point the spotlight over to the stellar art accompaniment enclosed with Deformer (pics above for your perusal pleasure). It’s better than hotcakes at noon with maple SEERUP straight from upstate New York (or Vermont; I’m not a syrup nazi) and ice-cold grape Welch’s comBINED. Think about it.
