"I've got something I wanna say, don't just sit there, get up!"
- 'Get Up'
"Dog Eat Dog is a party band, our music is celebration and
we write songs that we're going to feel good playing and
that, hopefully, will make other people feel good listening to."
- John Connor
Remember the good old days when rock music was about
having a laugh? When you could put on a record and literally
feel your mood being carried away by a soaring melody, a
sizzling guitar riff, an infectious bassline, or an uplifting
breakbeat? When you didn't have to stomach wave upon
wave of existentialist angst or introspective analysis ripped
from the back pages of a schoolkid's rough book? Well so
do New York's premier good time band Dog Eat Dog and,
much like their third full-length album 'Amped', it's a joy to
behold.
If the name sounds familiar then there's a good reason for it:
busting onto the scene some five years ago with their 'All
Boro Kings' debut and inimitable sound a fresh blend of NYC
metalcore, hip hop stylings, funk, punk, skunk 'n' horns they
scored a world-wide chart hit with their celebratory manifesto
'No Fronts', picked up the '1995 Breakthrough Artist Of The
Year' gong at the European MTV Music Awards and toured
the length and breadth of the known world, spreading their
infectious joie de vivre, making friends and draining beer
supplies everywhere they went. In '96 they put out the
follow-up 'Play Games' album, roping in such illustrious
collaborators as the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and Ronnie James
Dio to keep the joint fresh, and hit the road again,
brightening up the UK's Donington and Reading festivals and
spreading the word as only they know how. And now they're
back once again with the ill behaviour, a new collection of
tunes and a rejuvenated, stripped down outlook.
"'Amped' is a total musical growth for Dog Eat Dog," boasts
guitarist Sean Kilkenny. "We have been dubbed a NYHC
type band, but we are not just about hardcore. We love all
types of music and try to incorporate all of them into what
we do. This album has a full spectrum of musical styles from
hardcore to funk and we will continue to progress as a band
and as musicians. We're just happy we've been given the
opportunity to show what we're capable of."
"'It's a complete leap forwards from anything we've done
before," beams justifiably proud frontman JC, "from start to
finish I'm really proud of the work we all did. It's way better
written and produced than the last record and it's definitely
going to be considered our finest work to date. I can look at
this record and not say, 'Oh damn, I wish I did this,' or 'I wish
I did that' because we did pretty much everything that we
wanted to do."
'Amped' is pretty much as pure a Dog Eat Dog record as
you're gonna get. Prior to its recording the band amicably
parted ways with saxophonist Scott Mueller and guitarist
Mark De Backer, their manager and their A&R man,
resulting in a core quartet who holed up with drummer
Brandon's longtime pal Italric (DED's "Rock of Gibraltar" and
a soon to be recognised name in his own right "he did for us
what Bob Rock did for Metallica" claims Sean) in a
Washington studio to put together the most important album
of their lives.
"We've definitely cut off the excess fat, we've become a lot
tighter, and it's a lot more fun because the four guys that are
doing this are way more into it," says JC of the
reorganisational process. "'Amped' is very much a make or
break thing for Dog Eat Dog. We had great success on our
debut, we had some nice success on our second album
which was a rush job admittedly and for us it was, 'OK, cool.
Now what do we do? Are we going to continue with this
band, is this going to be a career for us or have we moved
on? Where are we right now?'"
"The third album is always the toughest for a band,
especially if they've had success with the first two,"
considers Sean. "People like a band for what they do, and if
they change too much they may lose some of their original
fans. With 'Amped', we tried to give people what they like
about Dog Eat Dog while expanding our own musical range
to attract new fans. This LP is definitely an important one for
us. We've finally been able to put on record what we're all
about. We've never really been successful at trying that yet
so we're excited to see what people think."
"At the end of the day we all wanted the same thing: a great
album and an album that was very '90s," continues JC. "We
wanted a lot of diverse sounds and subjects on this record."
And diverse it is. Opening shot 'Whatever Man' is a smooth
talking funker in the vein of '70s Blaxploitation soundtracks,
derived from JC, Dave and Brandon's mutual love of Isaac
Hayes, Curtis Mayfield and Shaft while elsewhere on the
album there's astute nods to r'n'b (the soulful 'Right Out'),
reggae (the loping rhythms of 'Big Wheel') and hip hop (the
call and response of 'Always The Same'), all underpinned,
but not constrained by, by Dog Eat Dog's characteristic take
on good old rock 'n' roll.
"Yeah there's influences of hip hop and reggae and punk and
this and that, but essentially it's four-piece rock," agrees JC.
"The challenge on the album was how do we make it more
than that? We added little textures. A friend of ours came in
and played wah wah guitar on a lot of tracks, a friend of
Brandon's came in and played a lot of percussion, we had
Greg Boyer and the guys from the P-Funk horn section
come in and lay the horn parts down. We had a lot of help
from friends and that's what makes 'Amped' broader than
just the four of us."
The most startling musical development of all, however, is
surely the record's centrepiece 'In Time'. Something of a
departure for Dog Eat Dog, it's a gorgeous acoustic based
ballad, all the more notable for
John Connor's coming of age as a proper singer.
"This is absolutely a definite move forward for me and it has
to be," he agrees. "I have to credit Italric he worked the hell
out of me, man! We spent a lot of time working on vocals
and he helped me out with harmonies and things. I'm not
somebody that's very comfortable in the studio to begin with
but the entire group wanted to come off moving forward and
sounding better than ever. 'In Time' is definitely a mature
song and I think it's a step in the right direction for us. We're
constantly trying to push what we do, the parameters of our
sound and styles, and the last thing we want to do is be
pigeon holed by people as 'rock/rap' or 'punk rock' or 'heavy
metal' or 'pop'."
"We all stepped up with all we had musically, and JC did the
same," adds Sean. "It was not something we needed to
encourage, it was just his natural progression. The music
was so big, that there was no way he
could just yell over it all. JC had to prove himself this time,
and he did just that. His vocals on 'In Time' are tremendous,
and it just goes to show you that he's grown musically as
well. He's not just a pretty face anymore, the guy can really
sing"
And if 'Amped' is the album where Dog Eat Dog mature
musically then the ante's also been increased lyrically.
"It's the day to day Dog Eat Dog experience, things that we
can relate to," explains JC. "We've always been a band that
hasn't really run with deep themes or messages but some of
the heavier songs, like 'Modern Day
Devils', deal with ethical and moral issues. In the
pre-Millennial tension there's a lot of people talking about the
end of the world and now is the time to get your soul in
check. That song deals with both sides of that coin, getting
people to think about it.
"'One Day' is about what it's like coming from a broken home
or an abusive family and, more importantly, about being able
to overcome that, to get on with your life and be stronger for
it. All the songs in a way relate to us and our experiences I
don't come from a broken home or have been abused but
know through experience from friends and other people what
it's like, and I know what it's like to have every type of shit
thrown in your face and think 'Damn, how am I going to get
through that?'"
First single 'Expect The Unexpected' deals with the
unpredictability of life and the fact that in the grand scheme
of things we're all equal, containing as it does the line,
"Accidents happen, we don't know why / Just look what
happened to Princess Di one car crashed and the whole
world cried".
"That shit shocked the hell out of me!" remembers JC. "We'd
just finished playing Reading and I was in Ireland chilling out.
My cousin and I woke up after a night on the piss and we
turned on the TV and it's like, 'Boom! Princess Diana's gone!'
You think that shit only happens to the regular people but in
reality you never know when it's your time so expect the
unexpected."
Indeed. And who knows what fate has in store for Dog Eat
Dog? One thing that is for sure though, with 'Amped' Dog
Eat Dog are well and truly back and, to borrow one of the
band's phrases (which, incidentally, is also the title of one of
the album's cuts), they're slamming like gangbusters!
"We spent alot of time making this LP, so we can't wait to
hit the road and play it live," concludes Sean. "We want to
tour till the new year and get back in the studio soon after
that. Three years between records is way too long for us
although at least the world has had enough time to brew
more beer before we get back on the road. It's time to cause
a drought!"
