Dogshite: Violation
(Grow Your Own)
LP | CD | DL
Out Now
Grow Your Own Records serve up another slab of rabble rousing punk rock, this time with a bit of crusty skank thrown in. Dogshite refuse to grow old, or if they can’t stop the passing of time they will grow old disgracefully. This album celebrates the party lifestyle.
Attitude-wise Dogshite sit well in the GYO family being broadly anti-authoritarian and distrustful of society’s structures, living outside the norm. They are free party people. This album celebrates the party lifestyle, kicking back against mainstream society while nodding to the difficulty of maintaining the right balance with all that grown up shit that gets thrown at us. Dogshite refuse to grow old, or if they can’t stop the passing of time they will grow old disgracefully – fun as a revolutionary act.
Breakout kicks off proceedings with a tuneful little punky ditty about the evils of advertising, commercialism and capitalism. I clearly remember the next song Fuck You Rudeboy from its first outing on a GYO compilation 7″ way back in 2015 and it’s nice for it to get a reboot. It must be a crowd favourite with its singalong chorus, up front swearing and a general two fingers to people who put you down. All the vital elements.
Now, unless I have misunderstood the lyrics (wouldn’t be the first time), Veins appears to be about those super highways for blood that course through our body and that risk getting clogged as we get older what with all those naughty things we put in them. In this case it is troublesome veins: sounds bloody painful. This song is very rhythmic, powered by the drums. The pounding toms getting a proper workout, while the shouty vocals and booming dubby bass are backed by guitar downstrokes and pick slides. The sudden change of tempo into the shout along chorus reminds me of the chaos that The Slits unleashed on the world. Now it’s funny I should be thinking about The Slits as this similarity continues in the next song Human Being. It’s something about the way the bass and drums pair and some of the noises emanating from the guitar together with the way the song gathers pace as it progresses. This time its mental health getting the Dogshite treatment.
The slow sinister start on Made Me builds up into the main riff and the reverb loaded guitar gives this a garagey feel. Drop outs and a skanking guitar add to the sense of winding up tension. All topped of with a good vocal performance delivering some defiant wordplay about how we are labelled. Out of the mouths of children..as the title of Proud Parent suggests, this one extols the virtues of parenthood, albeit struggling to match that responsibility with being a rebel. It’s another punky song powered by the constant drum beat with stops, starts, drop outs and an occasional descending riff.
Hotter delivers full on ska with a strong two tone influence featuring Buster Bloodvessel style vocal interjections and a guitar as twangy as Neol Davies from the Selecter. There are a lot of bands on the festival circuit who base their sound on ska which can get a bit formulaic but Dogshite know how to do it better than most. This is crisp, upbeat and sounds of summer. Hotter relays an age old tale of tension building and the ghetto rising up but amazingly for such and angry subject this is a really happy sounding tune.
Listen to Hotter by Dogshite
It wouldn’t take too many guesses to work out Fuck Me I’m Fucked is about getting completely bollocksed on all manner of substances. It’s a mix of skanking offbeat verses and fast charges of chorus. Slave To Age closes the album with a speedy start before settling down into another ska based tune with drop outs and build ups to heighten the tension. Both these songs continue a theme recurrent throughout this album: Dogshite are growing old disgracefully in a chemically enhanced way. Despite what your body says, you don’t have to act like you’ve grown old.
Decked out in a red Crass-style fold out poster sleeve, this is bound to be a favourite with the crusty festival crowd who will get to see them live throughout the summer. If punk rock with a touch of ska is your thing you’ll like it too. Keep partying on!
Available from Grow Your Own – don’t snooze on this one as their last album sold out almost immediately.
~
Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO LTW
Leave a comment