Album Review: The Street Dogs – Crooked Drunken Sons EP
- Written by Jono Coote
The Street Dogs are one of those dependable bands whom, if you keep up to date with punk rock releases, you know are guaranteed to include some boozing, dancing anthems scattered throughout each new release.
There’s no coyness about their musical influences and hearts are worn on sleeves, as perfectly encapsulated by the cheesy but immensely enjoyable song ‘Punk Rock and Roll’ which appeared on their self-titled record a couple of years ago. The release of Crooked Drunken Sons, put out to coincide with Record Store Day this past Saturday, is welcome news to fans that they have returned early from a self-imposed ‘break’. The title track is by far the standout of the three songs, street punk with a pirate folk swagger - ‘We are your crooked drunken sons, we don’t answer to anyone’ is the rallying call for a band coming back into the fray swinging. The second of the two drinking songs is a cover of ‘I Got Drunk’, an early single from alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo. This is a band that have always shown a strong punk influence in their music, which has effectively just been drawn more to the fore in the Street Dogs version. Despite this it is still undoubtedly a worthy cover and one which is likely to provide some raucous shout-a-long crowd participation at subsequent shows. The third track on the EP, ‘All Fall Apart’, showcases the band’s underrated ability to play folk ballads before morphing into a folk/rock stomper complete with some sea chantey-esque gang vocals adding power to the chorus. An abrupt finish left me feeling hungry for more; the next full length can’t come round soon enough!