Remember back when I posted about this awesome track by Hey Bulldog? Well, the band are back with that tune and 4 others on their new EP and it's pretty much awesome.
The 5 tracks here ooze intent and they all snarl in appropriate ways with a wicked rock sneer. The bluesy drawl of "Oh My Soul" morphs into that familiar Loop-meets-Jesus and Mary Chain menace of "Numb".
But it's "Let It Go" that most impresses here, even if it's got a song title that's the same as a tune from that Disney film. This cut is like some scuzzy and wonderful lost garage rock anthem -- think The Standells -- being covered by The Cult before they hooked up with Rick Rubin (no offense to Rick's talents). It's the pound-and-fury of Loop as channeled into another direction -- less Hawkwind and more Motorhead. And that guitar solo on this tune flat-out rawks!
The remaining two cuts -- "I'm Going Down" and "This Is Better" -- likewise do not disappoint.
What I most like about Hey Bulldog is that for a new band they've done a pretty remarkable job at carving out a unique sound. Sure, there are traces of other bands here, most notably The Jesus and Mary Chain, I guess, but the overall sound is cleverly more than just a bunch of references to other bands. If you remember that Creation band One Lady Owner you might know what I'm talking about here with Hey Bulldog. This is catchy music but it's also brutal music. But it's brutal in a refreshing way.
It's like those dudes in Loop found a Nuggets comp. in their attic and challenged themselves to do their own loud versions of those short tunes, the space-rock freakouts ratcheted down to manageable lengths, the fuzzy feedback in the service of melody and not just epic bouts of shoegazing.
Follow Hey Bulldog on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/heybulldogmusic