Saving...
Fun fact: I had never even heard of this band before a few weeks ago. A friend of mine at work asked if I wanted a free sweatshirt that didn’t fit him, and I accepted. He told me it was a Street Dogs sweatshirt, a band created by the former lead singer of Dropkick Murphy’s. I had never listened to Street Dogs before, so I thought to myself, if I am going to wear this sweatshirt I ought to take a listen to the band I’m repping.
I chose their self-titled album, Street Dogs, which is also their newest album to start with. I had some idea about what the band would sound like, because I used to listen to Dropkick Murphy’s a lot when I was younger. And the two bands remind me a lot of each other, which I’m sure is why I felt as if I had heard them both before.
For those of you who don’t know either band, they are both punk. And I mean real punk. Not alternative-punk or pop-punk. Just pure, straight up, street punk. And I love it. The intro to the album makes you think of a Scottish army marching towards war. It definitely gets you pumped for what is to come.
Just like most punk bands, the songs are really short, but there are many songs on the album so you don’t feel cheated. However, with songs so short, it makes the whole album sort of blend together, which is something I don’t really like about punk albums.
The first song that caught my attention is the fourth song on the album “Punk Rock and Roll.” Mostly because front man Mike McColgan chants the words, “well they say that punk rock has died away, I don’t believe a word they say.” Those words rang true to me because there are so few true punk rock bands out there today; it’s a breath of fresh air to see one releasing new music. The lyrics to this song describe what I’m sure a lot of punk rock lovers are feeling. “The world needs a little punk rock and roll,” something McColgan also says in the song, pretty much sums up how punk rockers feel about the world.
The next song on the album, “The Shape of Other Men,” is probably my favorite song off the record. Why? Because punk rock and acoustic guitars are a dynamic duo, especially when they introduce the song. This song just captures you into the image of a bunch of drunken Irish men dancing and moshing together in peace and harmony, no cares in the world other than jamming to this song. And perhaps for a moment you can forget your worries too. This song is particularly short, clocking in at less than two and a half minutes, but you know the saying, sometimes big things come in small packages.
Track 16 on the album, entitled “Oh Father,” also jumped out at me for the same reason; acoustic guitar and punk vocals. This song has a more melodic sound to it, rather than a grunge sound. Who says punk can’t be sweet sounding? Not me. I like when punk bands have a softer song or two on an album to break away from the typical fast punk sound. So this song was a pleasant surprise.
Other than that, like I mentioned before, many punk songs blend together while you’re listening to them, so most albums only have a few great songs on them. Within the whole punk genre, it’s hard to pick out the excellent songs from the average ones, but if you take the time to sort through the garbage, you are bound to find treasure. And I would say there are a few gold pieces on this Street Dogs album.
