The Dog’s Body is a four-piece “Y’allternative Rock” band hailing from the small college town of Cookeville, Tennessee. The band blends a unique mix of Southern, Alternative, and Indie Rock to craft a distinctive sound that echoes the duality of the modern South.
‘Deer of Wisdom’ is their latest album, and the band opted to ground their sound in analogue two-inch magnetic tape. Deer of Wisdom will be pressed to vinyl by Microforum Vinyl Record Pressing to complete the full circle, an analogue experience.
That is actually great. I love analogue sound and don’t know if it’s a placebo effect. Still, I can hear the wonderful harmonic distortion here. It’s always a shame that every time something is done in analogue, it’s digitised to go online. Hence, the vinyl option is the best way.
Talking about distortion, there is a lot to go around here—guitars, vocals, and even the drums. That makes the sound very lively, raw, warm, and real. The bass is always very melodic and playful, and the guitar riffs and parts are very well arranged, with well-thought-out voicings on the chords, licks, and riffs that complement each other and the rhythm section. Strangely, sometimes it reminds me of very early Black Sabbath, even though these lads are technically much better than the Birmingham legends.
Regarding references, I can hear Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Bad Religion, Green Day, Sonic Youth and some Blink-182 vibes.
The general style is definitely within the confines of punk rock and alternative rock. I guess the Southern element comes in every time the guitars explore more bluesy paths, with solos and licks in pentatonic and a generous amount of bends like in ‘Gravity Bong,’ which, in my opinion, is very close to Stoner Rock but without the usual heaviness that usually comes with that particular style of music.
I love ‘New Moon,’ which sounds like Smashing Pumpkins on steroids, as well as ‘Chewing Up Gravel Spitting Out Blood’ and the bonus track ‘Look Momma, I’m An Airplane’ (what an awesome title!), which really proves how close this kind of music is to thrash metal (and in the middle section, stoner/Sabbath vibes again!).
Ideally, you should blast this on your speakers and make your neighbour’s life miserable. Still, one should get the vinyl to get the whole experience, as I am sure its complete and accurate sound will come alive!
Written by Spiros Maus
