Dr. Dog Dr. Dog 2024

After only some 15 releases over the last 22 years, Dr. Dog release an eponymous record. And it is a good one.

There are some artists that make one record that stands out from, and above, the rest of their work. Del Amitri's Some Other Sucker's Parade, The Connells Still Life, The Proclaimers Persevere, they all fall into that category for me. And so does Dr. Dog's Shame, Shame. The follow-up, Be The Void comes awfully close, but can't knock Shame, Shame out of the top slot. I've enjoyed much of their other work, including B-Room and Abandoned Mansion. Their early records are a bit too lo-fi for my tastes, but many of the songs are very good, and there are always moments of brilliance. 

This one is one of the better ones, and while it might be an unfair comparison, it's not quite Shame, Shame.

The record features more mid-tempo and slow songs than usual, but they are mostly good ones. Lost Ones slowly builds to a loud mess, What A Night'll Do is a slow piano-heavy ballad that features a nice synth break, and Still Can't Believe is a pretty ballad. Fine White Lies is a slow builder that is reminiscent of Bowie's Five Years as it gradually becomes more dynamic. 

The noisy, stomping rocker Authority starts things off well. The funky beat and pretty melody of Talk Is Cheap rocks. White Dove has a fine guitar break, and the upbeat closer Love Struck has a catchy chorus, nice percussion, and what sounds like a pedal steel guitar. 

A few of their more recent ones (The Psychedelic Swamp, Critical Equation) have disappointed me a bit, so I was happy to hear them return to form with a solid outing. As usual, the drumming of Eric Slick is killer.

Paul McCartney Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes) 2024, One Hand Clapping 2024

I have an ongoing love/indifference relation ship with Paul McCartney. I think some of his songs are great, and I think much of his music is just OK.

Let me make one thing clear. I'm no Paul denier. First and foremost, if he never wrote a song or played some amazing bass part, he's still worthy of great fame just for his singing. He's a really great singer, right there with, well, anybody. As a bass player he is unique. He played bass with the Beatles like it was another lead instrument, not just foundational. Sure, others have done the same, but there are some McCartney bass lines that it seems no one but he could create. Drive My Car comes to mind, but there are tons of them.

Then there's songwriting, and Paul is a gifted songwriter that leans a bit too far toward the sentimental sometimes. I often think that if he had produced one record every six or seven years, they could have included only his best songs, and every one of them would be untouchable. Of course he'd need a producer to cut the wheat from the chaff, as it were. But if he had done so, his work and reputation would be different from what we have. I haven't listened to some of his records more than once, but again, there's always something there that's darn good. 

We don't need to compare him to Lennon, and as circumstances will have it, that's not very fair. But for all of  Paul's lesser output, there's Some Time In New York City, the most god-awful dreck released by any ex-Beatle. So Paul made some mistakes along the way. And he made some gems. One of those gems would be Band On The Run, regarded by many as the pinnacle of Paul's solo work. I know there are other opinions, but face it, it's in the top three no matter how you cut it.

And that brings us to the recent Paul McCartney releases, both associated with Band On The Run. The first is Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes). As fantastic as Band On The Run is, it may be even better stripped of some of it's, well, production. This is a fun listen, and if you love Band On The Run, you should get to hear it. It reveals a lot about the record in some fun and exciting ways, and it strips the veneer off of a record that apparently didn't require it. It is only available in a 2 CD or 2 LP deluxe Band On The Run, or streaming.

Then there is One Hand Clapping. Basically the soundtrack to a "Let It Be" style video of the band, made shortly after the release of Band On The Run, in studio. The recordings are of McCartney and crew playing recent Wings songs, Beatles hits, oldies, and odd covers. The set is just killer. If anybody thought that Wings were not an actual band, and just Paul's boys, this should set the record straight. There are some twee moments, but not many, and there's a lot of rocking. The recording is very good, clear and clean. Like a live recording without an audience. In fact it sounds like a tour rehearsal much of the time, and that's good.

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard may his his strongest recent work, but these gems from the golden days of Wings are great bonbons for his fans.