THE GOLDEN DOGS - Coat Of Arms
Friday, September 17, 2010 at 10:00AM 
Others get greater plaudits, but no other band in Canada have set themselves as heirs to power-popsters Sloan and The New Pornographers as The Golden Dogs have on this third album. And while their buddies in Zeus are currently seen as the relative heavyweights, I dare say that it’s The Golden Dogs who have upped the stakes in the game of thrill-ride pop/rock. Zeus’ Carlin Nicholson and Mike O’Brien produced Coat Of Arms, while Neil Quin played guitar on the Dogs’ last record, and this connection leads one to join the dots regarding their mutual love of ELO-esque texture, as well as the more prominent use of piano here, which helps drive songwriter Dave Azzolini’s increasingly rock-classicist tendencies. Much in the same way that Supergrass had recently opened themselves to a wider palette, Azzolini covers new ground for the band on Coat by working with a slapback reverbed vocal (“Dear Francis”), quoting Leonard Cohen (“Travel Time”), and channeling Split Enz (“Lester”), all without sacrificing the fervour that characterizes their hyper sound.
The trademark shared vocal duties of Azzolini and not-so-secret weapon Jessica Grassia continue to cause the pair to push their throats into exhilarating wail range, particularly on “Permanent Record”. Grassia’s role as the band’s Neko Case (“Movie’s Over”) is a fairly obvious point of comparison, but make no mistake: in this writer's opinion, The New Pornographers have neither been as good, nor as consistent as this in a few years.
(Get your copy of Coat Of Arms signed when The Golden Dogs play a free in-store here at Soundscapes on Thu. Sep 23 at 7pm!)
Reader Comments (1)
The G-Dogs rule! Awesome live band, amazing people.