Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Indie Dog, Indie Dog Recordings 2023.
At the beginning of the year, I bought you the third single, Landslide, from South African band Indie Dog and I commented at the time that the album should be worthwhile looking out for.
That album has arrived and the 17 tracks on Theory of Emotion suggest that my assessment was warranted.
Indie Dog write good songs that are instantly approachable and it’s no wonder that they are currently the hottest band in South Africa.
The songs on the album traverse a variety of genres from indie-pop and rock through to experiments in soul and funk.
The production is straight forward with the light studio approach being a pleasant change from much of the over produced and hyped material that comes my way.
Overdubs have been kept to a minimum and the album gives all the hallmarks of being largely recorded live with few filters coming into play.
The opening track, Bite My Tongue, is catchy indie-pop that acts as a conservative but good introduction to some of the more experimental crossover tracks to follow.
The third track Pretty Fool mixes some funk with blues licks which is a formular repeated in the fourth cut Fading.
The four-piece band move comfortably between the different styles.
They are sometimes augmented with subtle horns but mostly the standard instrumentation of guitars, keys, bass, and drums carry the day.
There are some standout tracks on the album including Landslide and Feel it Coming.
Many songs start slowly before building in volume and tempo in the choruses to crescendos that give way to the opening introspective approach, and so the process is repeated.
This technique gives the songs an organic life journey which is important in taking the listener on an audio trip.
One of the best examples on the disk of this musical trick is the track The Silk which has multiple parts to it providing an ebb and flow.
Funk is an important part of the Indie Dog style.
It’s largely nailed down by the rhythm section of bass and drums and a track like The King starts with a solid funk rhythm before branching off into indie-rock.
All in all, Indie Dog provide an interesting palate of styles in their first Australian album release.
