This EP is delicious - made up of divine, helplessly stylish chilled-out guitars that carry an underlying tension, soothing vocals that convey razor-sharp wit, and melodies that are more addictive than opium. What more could you ask for?
The lyrics are sometimes soft and contemplative, or cutting and acidic - but always witty, intelligent and dark. The music is atmospheric, with a dreamy distant quality that accurately reflects the subject matter, especially on the title track "Chemical" where the combination of stark descriptive lyrics ("I am not in control, its the chemicals... coursing through, sickly sweet confusing me...") combined with sleepy but menacing melodies, manage to hit the nail squarely on the head.
Bristol-based indie outfit SANTA DOG are newly formed - as in literally months ago - and are hopefully about to embrace the alternative music scene and bring back some of the much-needed gentle guitar-orientated indie pop, typical of the early 1990's before the style got ousted by Britpop, Blur, and Oasis.
For me, listening to their Chemical EP brought back happy memories of me saving up my pocket money for weeks on end so I could afford to buy albums (generally on cassette) by bands such as Salad, Lush, Pavement, and Stereo-Lab (I had cool older relatives ensure that I was never a Take That fan...). A time when I'd walk around wearing cherry red Doc Martens, stripy tights, and crochet jumpers - a great taste in music, but looking dreadful.
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Forgive my seemingly inane reminiscing. My point is that Santa Dog instantly filled me with an acute sense of nostalgia for the early 90's indie music scene - showing that they are making great relevant music but have clearly stayed true to their roots. Which is fantastic.
Keep an eye out for Santa Dog. If they are this good after only a few months in existence, I imagine that they'll achieve something close to underground status in no time at all.
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