I don't like disco, but I like Dog Fashion Disco. The sounds emitting from my headphones is like someone took the Ramones and The Clash, wrapped it around some Pink Floyd and served it on a hot, steamy plate of Ska with a side of grunge. They call it "avant-garde metal", but I won’t go that far. They have a hard rock edge and beefy distortion, but to me it's not metal.
They kick off with a mellow tune "Greta", which I thought was bold. It sort of set a mood and kinda gets under your skin. Not so moody in the songs "War Party" and "Scarlet Fever", these songs put out some pounding rhythms to pump your fist to. "Tastes So Sweet" is a tasty bit of borderline metal and "Doctors Orders" funks it up a bit. Heaviness in the forefront of "Vultures" - they play with the hook and timing. An Alice in Chains feel all over "Approach and Recede". (Listen to the song "Would" and then this one...uncanny)
"Down the Rabbit Hole" and "We aren't the World" have a haunt like vibe to them. Minor chords and circus music make it all the freakier. The ska returns with a hint of a Steppenwolf sound on the organ for "Struck by Lightning". I am not very particular of the song "Sweet Nothings". The groove is dancey, the sax is cool, but I'm just not a big fan of the rhyming or dance beat. "Pale Horse" is as metal as it gets here - lots of angry tones and heavy guitars. Then there's "End of the Road"... WOW! This takes me back to the days of Mudhoney and Soundgarden.
Downside is that I feel that if you're gonna call yourself "metal", then there should be more elements of metal. I would probably call this "Ska-Metal" or "Psychedelic Hard Rock". That and I wasn't fond of "Sweet Nothings", but hey,....the Upside, however are the songs, the songwriting, the musicianship - very jazzy in the way the songs are written, plus they have a bold choice in having (the only) slow number as the first song. I like that. Moreover I like the mood of each song - very grabby and intense.
I'll be listening to this again, because of the variety of sounds. I think it’s also modern and classic at the same time. I give Dog Fashion Disco a solid gold 8 1/2. Have fun with this one.
Tim Duran, HMS
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