Dogleg

Melee

Written by: PP on 26/06/2021 01:02:11

Here's an absolute gem from last year that we only discovered recently, but if you think about it, there hasn't been a better time to review Dogleg's debut album than at the heels of the pandemic. The reason is simple: "Melee" features the kind of soundscape you want your first basement show to be like: a scream-laden, passionate love affair to early 2000-style post-hardcore with emotive punk undertones and the kind of intensity that burns like a supernova given a confined space and the right audience. It's the kind of record for which words like urgency and immediacy were invented, the sort of brawling expression where the raw energy and sheer barrage of scratchy emotion are shot right in your veins like heroin through unique, yet an oddly familiar sound that pays tribute to the genre greats while wrapping itself in what feels like Dogleg's signature sound already at such an early phase of their career.

Take early The Get Up Kids records and their nostalgic melodies, thrown in fiery screams in the vein of The Hotelier, and the relentless barrage of energy of a band like Cloud Nothings, all delivered in early Sparta-influenced post-hardcore soundscapes delivered in jarring fashion, and you've got "Melee" in a nutshell. If Jeff Rosenstock wrote a chaotic post-hardcore record, this would be it, underscored by a cacophonic instrumental landscape and ethereal screams that scream heart-on-your-sleeve from start to finish. The sheer intensity and abrasive display of passion are lost on no one, song-after-song leaving behind just one thought: imagine this shit live?

What "Melee" essentially sounds like is a record where everything just clicks. It carries itself with the spirit and unassuming greatness of a debut record without expectations, where the whole band plays as a unit delivering a uniform expression with enormous conviction from front to back. The passion spills over the screechy guitar distortion and the gravelly vocals, creating a volatile, explosive sound that few bands can match. Dogleg's "Melee" is the kind of record that defines a genre, and reminds us all about the nostalgia-laden scream-fests of sweaty intensity that live shows are supposed to be like - and they do so brilliantly in a recorded format no less.

9

Download: Prom Hell, Kawasaki Backflip, Bueno, Fox
For the fans of: The Hotelier, Cloud Nothings, The Get Up Kids, Dikembe, Joyce Manor
Listen: Facebook

Release date 13.03.2020
Triple Crown

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.