From scrappy punk upstarts to full-blooded rock n’ roll machine!
It’s always a nice surprise when a reliably great band unexpectedly ups their game even further, and that’s exactly what Bristol quartet Split Dogs have done on ‘Nice N’ Rough’, their third album. In the words of vocalist Harry Martinez, they’ve “not lost what we were, but we’ve evolved and tightened the screws, made it a little slicker”. Fear not, though; whilst this latest set of songs are indeed a little slicker, the record as a whole still hits as hard as previous album ‘Here To Destroy’ – and then some.
They’ve made a name for themselves as purveyors of quality punk n’ roll, and one way to sum up ‘Nice N’ Rough’ would be that they’ve leaned harder on their rock n’ roll influences this time around. Imagine their trademark fiery punk rock spliced with the primal rock n’ roll boogie of Chuck Berry and the guitar histrionics of AC/DC, and you’ll have an idea of where they’re coming from, this time around. Check out the riffing and nimble-fingered solos on the gloriously melodic opener ‘Be Somebody’ and the turbocharged ‘Born Too Loose’, and prepare to have any post-work or post-sleep mental cobwebs blasted away.
On much of ‘Nice N’ Rough’, Split Dogs sound like they could go toe to toe with the likes of the Supersuckers or Nashville Pussy and still hold their own. Witness Harry’s ear-splitting, Tom Araya-esque scream over the groove-infused stomp of ‘Get The Look’, the simple (but addictive) riff and squealing harmonica of ‘Speed Demon’ or the full-throttle ode to sedatives that is ‘Shake Sum Action’; this is the sound of a band on the form of their lives, and we can’t get enough of it.
They take aim at shady music business dealings on fiery lead single ‘Rock N’ Roll Business’, with its rinky-dink piano and chorus custom-built for audience participation, and there are some serious spine-tingling moments on ‘Suffer’ – namely a slow, almost Sabbath-esque intro and some awesome guitar shredding midway through. It all comes to a close with ‘Power Out’; a punk rock rager which is sure to soundtrack some serious slam-dancing, and makes for one hell of a full stop to a record on which Split Dogs don’t waste a note.
We said of ‘Here To Destroy’ that it had the spirit and tunes of the ‘77 brigade, plus a take-no-prisoners attitude. Well, Split Dogs have retained both of these on ‘Nice N’ Rough’, but this time around, they sound more confident, more proficient and ready for the larger stages that – if there’s any justice in this world – await them. Speaking of stages, they remain a hard-touring bunch, and are probably playing near you soon. Get yourself along to a show, and you can thank us (and more importantly, them!) later.
‘Nice N’ Rough’ is released on 25th September via Venn Records – pre-order it HERE.
Main Photo Credit: MACIEK MASTALERZ
- Be Somebody
- Born Too Loose
- Breaker
- Get The Look
- Speed Demon
- Leave It Alone
- Shake Sum Action
- Rock N’ Roll Business
- Mamma Said
- Suffer
- I Wanna
- Dirty Denim
- Power Out
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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