Cavedogs
Soul Martini (Capitol) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2
What makes this trio of pop fanatics from Boston so consistently interesting-their songs so inescapable-is the way they stand the history of rock on its head and rummage through the possibilities. What type of song might the Beatles have recorded if they`d been around long enough to hear Husker Du`s ”Zen Arcade”? Perhaps it would sound like ”Tarzan and His Arrowheads.” Or what if the early Who had spent a day on XTC`s ”English Settlement” 20 years later? The results are suggested by ”Love Grenade.”
All three band members write and sing, and the creative tension is implied by the relationship of the instruments, with guitar, drums and bass all fighting for space. Despite the unusually tuneful singing and rich harmonies, these melodies aren`t so much caressed as attacked.
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