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Album Review

Unruly Dogs
Unruly Dogs Grandpa Stan

Article written by Kev W - Oct 20, 2011

If you're of the belief that the music world has been crying out for a dog obsessed indie-pop concept album about time travelling Victorian hellraisers, then it's time to have a long, hard look at yourself. Secondly, believe it or not, you're in luck. 'Unruly Dogs' sees our heroes (Messrs Arthur Pimmsley-Fox and Frederick Pinegar) build “a mysterious vehicle that was said to manipulate the laws of time and space” and travel to the modern day where they partake in womanising, clubbing and, um, walking dogs.

The idea behind this album is clearly a barking mad one but it would be rash to dismiss it as a mere novelty record. Sure, it's jovial, playful and more than a little ridiculous, yet it's perfectly executed, diverse and crammed with imagination. 'Big City Lips' is a foot-stomping way to start and gives 90s indie a sprinkling of 70s AM radio dust, 'Lost Dog' is a piano-led, harmony-drenched piece of AOR that somehow succeeds in not being naff, and 'Sweaty Wiv U' is a Hispanic take on cheesy 90s indie-disco fodder. These are songs that have no right to work, but they're carried with enough conviction and insanity to make them thoroughly enjoyable. 'Unruly Dogs' chops and changes between different styles and it's quite amazing that the separate pieces make such a coherent entity. 'I'll Bite You' adds big beats to 60s soul, 'Freaky Weather' and Walking The Dog' both contain hints of The Beatles.

Overall this is a definitely a fun album; it's not designed for chin-stroking musos to assess over one too many jazz-cigarettes, but for all its idiosyncrasies and dog-based imagery 'Unruly Dogs' has good tunes at its core and because of that it's worthy of investigation. The funky 'Small Faces' sums up the ethos here: “We're having a laugh with our sound/just trying to be different from everybody else/but if you don't like it/you don't have to buy it.” In this case buying is a recommendation.

'Unruly Dogs' is released as a name-your-price download on November 11th.

Links:
http://www.unrulydogs.co.uk/
http://grandpastan.co.uk/
http://www.unrulydogs.tumblr.com/

Unruly Dogs by Grandpa Stan