Toronto has had one of its hottest and most eventful summers in years. If you're looking for a break from the heat and excitment, Dog Weather might be just what you're looking for. It's the type of record you'll want to put on every day for a month, like a nice new pair of boots, wearing it in until it gets comfortable.
Steve Lambke is Baby Eagle. That's his face is on the grainy cover of Dog Weather, his third album and first full-length for You've Changed Records, following 2006's self-titled debut and 2007's No Blues. Each Baby Eagle record has found Steve paired up with a different group of musicans (including John K. Samson, Christine Fellows, and Shotgun & Jaybird), giving each group of songs its own flavour. This time around he's employed the talents of Shotgun Jimmie (again), Daniel Romano, and David Trenaman and Colleen Collins from east-coast rock duo Construction & Destruction. The band does a good job of adding their own flourishes, but when all is said and done, it's all about Steve.
The albums starts off with "Day of our Departing," the longest track here and also the perfect preview of things to come. With a laidback folk-rock framework, the songs mostly act as a showcase for Steve's wordy narratives. Once based in Toronto (where he played in a little band you might have heard of called The Constantines) but now living in Sackville, NB, his new settings certainly seem to have informed his lyrics. Song titles such as "Fisherman or Fish," "River Bank Sitter," and "Thistle in Bloom" give you a good idea of what to expect. However, this isn't the case of another city slicker putting on a fake drawl and singing about subjects they know nothing about—everything on this album feels natural. There are songs about dogs and songs about the weather, and songs about a whole lot more. Small moments in our lives that pass us over but make up who we are. This record is a moment in time worth revisiting. Get it.