This eponymous EP from the London quintet, French Dogs, has a wonderful sense of melancholy and restlessness about it; there is a feeling that rises between the gaps in the lyrics, an atmosphere running underneath the riffs and notes, of that young person’s quest to find out who they are, something often revealed through the process of finding out who they are not.
And so we follow them through late-night partying to the following morning’s sense of burnout, through poor choices and hangover, from love and loss and longing, and watch them find the glimmers of hope and shimmer of optimism on the horizon.
But this is not a set of songs where they feel sorry for themselves; to emo-wallowing or indie pity-party, this is a band realising they are young, reckless, free-spirited, and full of life… this is precisely where they are meant to be, exactly what they are meant to be doing…for now!
“Treasure” opens with a sense of isolated introspection; it’s 3 am, and all you have are your thoughts, well, not just your thoughts, here you have grooving, garage-rock guitars and squalling riffs too. Modern indie writ large and laddish!
“Modern Day Dispair” quickly changes the mood, an acoustic ballad with simple words of wisdom for anyone looking for meaning in the cold modern world, adorned by a gentle beat and a shimmering lead line. “Toxic Alibi” has no small amount of Brit-pop swagger to it, and “Unlucky in Love” is just raw, proto-punk-rock, a la The Stooges, proving that great riffs never go out of fashion.
With an album pencilled in for next year, this is the perfect teaser, taster and tester of the water for a band who can clearly deliver the goods!
