About Me
Great title! Great cover! Shame about the demo . . . The three tracks, 'Sexomania', 'Harvey' and 'Isobel's Funeral', are to be honest, stuck in the rather depressing Joy Division era of 1979 and would benefit from a couple of 'happy' injections. Come on lads, I don't think even Ian Curtis got this depressing.Anth Keenan, The CrackFrom the moment they took the stage, this four piece dressed in silver cocktail dresses and Tarantino-esque suits really looked the part. Aside from their brandy guzzling, mic-pumping, face slashing (honest!) antics, Canine provided quality track after quality track. It was good to see a small band with confidence enough not to be making a noise all of the time. Canine juxtaposed soulful instrumentals with thrashing melodies to create a memorable performance. The crowd loved it and their cries for an encore were recognised as the band returned to provide a cover of The Clash's 'London Calling'.Jamie Cowan, Paint It RedDespite their reputation for providing theatrical and at times bloody live performances, there's far too much depth to this band to dismiss them as mere spectacle. The subject matter may be dark, but the lyrics are powerful prose, not cheap shocks. It is their openness and honesty that is most startling, not so much close to the bone as gently rubbing it, even carving into it sometimes. There's also the small matter of the music being unlike anything else out there. That in itself wouldn't be much of a recommendation, but it being so terrifyingly good is.Lone Ildgruben, AspectsDon't be misled by Canine's throwaway name. Their lottery funded album takes in Billy Mackenzie, early Simple Minds, a heavy dose of Joy Division, the cranked-up psychosis of Jon Spencer and wraps it all up in cheap suits and cheaper drugs to create a cinematic album which could gain them a massive cult following once they get out there.Ben Myers, Melody MakerThey're back! And this time it's GLAM! Nothing gets in the way of Canine, and as written in these pages previously 'you either love them or loathe them!' Last heard of attempting to single-handedly destroy Newcastle Radio One Sound City week with a super-charged sexy live performance, this five track EP featuring the tracks Canine Dignity, Gun Metal Grey, Superb Glass, Projector and Dean whilst not entirely moving away from their own particular brand of 'punk theatre' sees the band moving into new territories of Glam and Glambient. Worth purchasing for Canine Dignity and Projector alone, the final track, Dean: an eleven-minute epic slice of Glambient rock is bound to surprise a few people.Anth Keenan, The CrackIt's like the musical equivalent of the carnivals and circuses portrayed in films like"Freaks" or "Santa Sangre", where the sparkling and brilliant fun of the surface struggles to obscure the human corruption and dark carnality that is as real as the jolly fun they provide to outsiders. A surface that ripples with echoes of what goes on beneath, giving the fun an uneasy undertone that makes it all the more captivating. "Herod" comes last, steeped in sadness, then breaking the restraint one final time, like a mind cracking. Words broken over hard chords, feelings whipped with whining strings, a frantic dash for release, redemption, revenge, oblivion.Lone Ildgruben, AspectsDebut release from this band that lurk under the shadows of the Angel of the North and contenders for the best anti-gig of the year. Their dark urban psychosis takes in the likes of the Stooges, Nick Cave and The Cramps. Self mutilating guitar riffs that provide the backdrop to nihilistic vocals and punishing swamp rock blues. Subpoetic refrains cut up this soundtrack to so deranged film which gives this band extra dimensions. Their bite is definitely worse than their bark.Alex, BizarreThis extraordinarily accomplished band have been hiding well away from the world, scarcely ever playing outside of Newcastle. Their provincial idyll is about to explode. Approaches from big labels in London and Dreamworks in the States have turned CANINE into excited bunnies (not quite, Wendy).The finished article, they are Earl Brutus meets Whipping Boy.Wendy Cook, This Is Not TV'On The Pavement . . .' starts with a spit, and for all its slow, excruciating beauty, the song is seething with vitriolic hatred. The lyrics and their delivery are so cleverly crushing they stun with their quiet ferocity. Twice the music rises towards staggering release, but then quickly subsides again, increasing the strain, for as the sample from Jim Cartwright's 'Road' makes clear at the end there is no release, no escape. 'Boxed Orchid' is a eulogy to childhood that screams repeatedly "I will burn in hell - for no one". It's carefully constructed fragile bubble of cocky, childish ambition bursts in a torrent of searing noise, exposing the pain and the mad, violent chaos just below the surface. For all the nastiness - the grim claustrophobia of thwarted ambition, uncontrollable urges and suppressed desires - Canine never seem jaded, never at a safe distance from their subjects. The immediacy is almost scary at times, too real to be dismissed.Lone Ildgruben, Aspects'Herod' ("our Christmas song") is a spectacular plummet into the dark of the heart of Canine, messy, loud and unrelenting. As with the other songs there is nowhere in this music to rest the ear. No respite. No room at the inn. In the short twelve months they've been gigging, Canine have seriously grown in stature, confidence, and (they would hate this) commercial potential, whilst steadfastly refusing to come in from the cold.Terry WardThey are difficult to parcel because they don't follow trends, which is both their strength and their weakness. They write their own scripts, shock you - smack you, do the unexpected; which is great for the listener. But they are trying to get on in a business that likes labels, that wants to know which supermarket shelf to put you on, that likes control. Which might hamper and hinder their rise to big stadium superstardom. But I hope not because music needs the genuine maverick performer.At a time when tribute bands do big business, Canine are paying tribute to only their own culture of ideas. Check them out.Bryn Fortey, TargetEven when you ignore the dog obsession, d.f.canine.s. seem like an odd bunch. There's the name for a start, then the obtuse yet witty lyrics that are spoken with an almost insolent air, while the pumping guitar riff that chugs along like Kim Deal's Breeders on a happy yet rather strange Saturday afternoon. Rather nice.Bryn R, Peoplesound
