New Music : Chicago’s The Dogs

January 25, 2009 by
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Some of my favorite music of the past couple years has dropped rather non-descriptly into my inbox with a simple note along the lines of “Hi, My name is (insert band member name here) my band (band name here) just finished recording our new album and thought you might like to check it out.”  My number one record of this past year, Mono In VCF arrived this way, as did last year’s number one pick, The Swimmers. Bands that aren’t afraid to let their music speak for itself, believe in what they are doing, and hope you may too. Back around Christmas time I received a similar note from Peter Walters of Chicago’s The Dogs pointing me in the direction of their debut album which they are giving away free. It’s been in the heavy rotation ever since, an addicting stripped down folk gem, chock full of acoustic guitars and simple percussion, that’s more about capturing emotion than studio perfection. While their sound has drawn comparisons to artists like Neil Young and Fleet Foxes, they never sound derivative or like they’re jumping someone else’s train. The band is composed of three core members Peter Walters on guitar and vocals, James Krivchenia on guitar and percussion and Matt Bachmann on bass, but augments it’s sound live and on record with additional musicians and instruments like banjo and female backing vocals.  From a record with no real low points here’s a couple of my personal highlights.

The Dogs – Useless Me
The Dogs – Headed For The Mountains

You can download the whole album for free at http://www.thedogsmusic.net/

[WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]

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