Live Review: Dog Day at The Cakeshop [11.28.07]

As much as I admire abstract sound based, experimental stuff, I have a special place in my heart entirely for a band that can cleverly craft a three minute pop song that I'll want to listen to over and over. Given the choice of having other musicians appreciate my intricate soundscape, or a thousand people losing their shit live to a clever beat and minor chords, I have to say given the choice I would pick the latter. I think there is a more obvious danger in the end result, the pressure of becoming a music machine that everything is riding on, demanding ever more and more.



I didn't know anything about Dog Day walking downstairs to the Cakeshop bar. The name "Dog Day" doesn't exactly conjure up confidence for a rocking good pop fun time, more like lazy days on the back porch. This was however the beginning of a band bound for a bigger audience, pop rock at it's finest, songs that can force you out of a crap day. It couldn't have been a better situation in the basement, complete with Christmas lights stapled to the ceiling over Dog Day. After a few songs, I was glad to be witness to this unselfconscious talent, and skillfully crafted melody.

They had a serious intensity onstage, they weren't going to blow it, no stage banter, they were concerned with the performance, pausing to swap out the snare when it wasn't cooperating. Maybe it was the months of touring they mentioned for their latest release Night Group, that kept them focused.




"This song is about someone else's band"....Nancy said and Casey counted off a little punk one and a half minute number that was all guitar and 4/4. They were saying, "thanks" before you knew it. It just reminded me of a time where bands weren't trying so, when people just played music and didn't worry if it would fit on the album. It was more than a great throwaway moment, they were revealing their roots, and not afraid to show it. I find out later that keyboardist Crystal Thili and drummer Casey Spidle also play in the Halifax punk band The Hold. It only stood out because everything else was so constructed and beautifully together, they can take chances, and aren't going to be pigeonholed.





I wouldn't place this far away from the Shout Out Louds either, they instantly endeared me the same way. Or better yet, on repeated listenings of Night Group they keep reminding me of the Swirlies, minus the looped samples into oblivion and the goof, more the back and forth guy/girl harmonies, and an off kilter bounce. Seth vocally carries the songs with a low melancholy quality, which keeps you from completely leaving the ground. Nancy Uric on bass is like Kim Deal, adding the echo backup harmonies, the far off yells and driving bass lines. There's just the right amount of cutsie keyboard, it isn't overpowering, and I didn't think twice about the cat stickers. The point here is that they keep it all in a delicate balance, they haven't gone off the twee rails. They are skating that line of serious unkempt songwriting like a 90's Lou Barlow, but are making sure you have a good time doing it. They are wearing all part of it on their sleeve, but it isn't over the top, and thankfully I'm not completely jaded.

Put into a play list and you'll keep reaching into your pocket turning the volume up, willing out the blue sky.

[Photos by Adam Schatz]