By Jim Rowland
Bristol punk rock ‘n’ rollers Split Dogs have one simple mission – they just want to show the world that rock ’n’ roll is alive and well. So far they’ve been doing a pretty fine job of that, spreading the word with extensive gigging across the ÜK and Europe. Now they’re set to release their incendiary new album which, simply put, is ‘Here To Destroy’.
‘Here to Destroy’ was recorded over three days at Middle Farm Studios by producer Peter Miles in old school fashion. All tracks were laid straight to a 16-track reel-to-reel tape machine and recorded live, including the vocals, in real time, capturing the raw authenticity required for Split Dogs’ brand of rock ’n’ roll, and picking the best takes from start to finish of the nine tracks included here, which clock in at an economical 22 minutes in total, so this is pretty fast and furious stuff.
Founding members vocalist Harry Atkins and guitarist Mil Martinez grew up on a diet of their parents’ and older siblings’ music, ranging from the likes of Quo and BTO, Slade and northern soul, to numerous punk and metal acts, and those influences filter through here.
The punk influence is strong, but this is punk that rocks in much the same ways as Amyl And The Sniffers clearly grew up on an Aussie diet of Rose Tattoo and AC/DC which filters through in their sound.
Laced with hooks aplenty, the likes of ‘Stay Tuned’, ‘Monster Truck’ and ‘Animal’ are relentless, in-yer-face slices of pummelling punky rock’n’roll that rarely, if at all, take the foot off the gas – no room for pop excursions, ballads or down time here, this music is here to destroy your speakers.
Rock ’n’ roll is clearly alive and well.
- ‘Here To Destroy‘ is released on Friday 28 February.
- Split Dogs play the following shows:
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