For those who need to belong to a musical tribe, Shaggy Dogs are renegades because they do not claim any affiliation. Blues? Not only. Pub rock Too restrictive! Rock, maybe? Soul? A little bit of this and a little bit of that, a subtle melting pot that they call blues ’n’ roll fiesta.
Can they be considered rebels and outlaws because they refuse all the clichés associated to a defined genre and do not accept conventions ? They have chosen freedom and their music is rich of many influences and colours. Their motto : partying with the crowd.
Either way, out now is Shaggy Dogs’s new album, Pinball Bloomers, on First Offence Records, and produced by Nick Brine from Rockfields Studios in Wales.
Nine albums in, endlessly touring in France, Europe, Canada and even Japan, the hounds bite deeper than ever and on this new album, the Shaggy Dogs‘ blues ’n’ roll fiesta has always lifted its rhythm ‘n’ blues colours high, with Dr Feelgood as its standard-bearer, as evidenced by ‘Your Love Is Dynamite’ and the very characteristic ‘My Baby Left Me In The Fog’ attesting to their good faith – More bluesy, they would have drowned in the swamp, eaten by alligators. However, they broaden their palette with a Staxian-style instrumental section, in the style of the J. Geils Band (‘Who’s Gonna Vote’, ‘Go &Run’) and Barrence Withfield (‘City Guy’, ‘“We Could Have Been To China’).
And if ‘Lee’s The Man’ is a heartfelt tribute to Lee Brilleaux, the Stones could also lay claim to it, with its chorus of buxom mermaids dutifully toiling away in the parking lot of an idle motel just off Route 66 near Albuquerque. The same configuration is found in ‘Talk Too Fast’, whose lyrics inspire the album title: “Live your life like a pinball machine, trying to score without ever falling down.” The closing track, ‘Better Life’, is a pure pub-rock gem, riding on a Bo Diddley-style spiral rhythm, with a nod to Dr Feelgood.
The Shaggy Dogs don’t hesitate to use orchestration to match their ambitions; when horns, piano or Hammond organ are at the forefront, they enrich songs that spin out of control and give rise to ideas that morality frowns upon.
The themes tackled by Pinball Boomers take a bitter look at our society, our daily lives, our relationships, our questioning, our doubts. You don’t come to blues and rock by chance; the motivation isn’t just musical. These are the only modes of expression that allow you to honestly get rid of your frustrations and anxieties, and in this regard, the Shaggy Dogs do it admirably well.
