The BirdDogs

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REVIEWS
JUNE 5th Real Detroit's Ear Candy Record Review:
4 out of 5 stars
The BirdDogs
Great Baptist Witch Hunt
Self-Released
Rock ‘n’ roll is saved. It’s loud, it’s hard, it’s fast, the solos are mind-blowing, the rhythm is tight and the bass is driving. Dark, biting lyrics, psychedelic noise trials, it’s a well-informed (Zeppelin, Stooges, Captain Beefheart) epic rock narrative, superiorly recorded — an organic, very complete sounding debut.
— J.Milo
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June 6th FiveThreeDialTone Record Review
The haunting riffs of guitarist Robbie Buxton are played in reverse over earthy, nocturnal rhythm and you can see the nightmarish, hallucinogenic imagery of Great Baptist Witch Hunt’s opening track, Scarecrow, a brooding-bonfire-side chiller in which the chorus nonchalantly announces intent and planned destination of cold-blooded murder. That boldness is an indicator that the BirdDogs are contemporary artists truly born from another decade: embracing the dark recesses of the human psyche that were spilled out by twisted introverts of the past such as Jim Morrison or Neil Young (in his darker moments.) The BirdDogs aren’t here to sing about going dancing, or to lament about a break-up or to reflect on the past. No, the BirdDogs are here to bring back scary rock: “I’m gonna buy me a graveyard of my own / and kill everyone whoever done me wrong.”
The title “Rusty Knives” is exactly what it sounds like Buxton is using to strum the opening notes of the track as he howls in a violent, primal, Captain-Beefheart-esque tone while drummer Jarvis Logan drops a rockslide down on the symbols over the chorus. The rhythm section is vital to a particular highlight, the aggressive anthem of revenge, “Love of Ivy” as Ben Little goes from a steady bounce that rolls the melody along to more playful wanderings as the chorus swells. Check the glorious and declarative stomping intro of “Lose My Mind” as Buxton conjures a hypnotic hook under his high-pitched chant.
No BirdDogs discussion can go without revering the talent of Buxton on guitar, with penchants for a dirty, dark-country acoustic strum, a Hendrix-ianly heroic, skyscraper rattling solo, feedback-heavy effects and plenty of pedal experimentation. Yes the lyrics are dark and often so is the music, but it’s also rousing, it’s rejuvenating, its rock n roll…above all else, it’s captivating. Much of that is due to the hard work the trio put in at Buxton’s studio in Pontiac, Carlot Sound, where many other local acts including The Friends of Dennis Wilson and The Questions have had sound work done.
The opening minute of “Red Witch” sounds like the thick of insanity, with backwards-voices hovering hauntingly over feedback – but then it launches into some kind of dark, maddening short story, very “The Gift”-via the Velvet Underground’s White Light White Heat: “there is a promising act among the peace and it is brought forth by the stone cutters…” Buxton mutters as their funky groove draws you in – this all transitions beautifully into the rhythm and ethereal “The Escape,” fusing a subdued but tribal beat to a mystical but transcendent acoustic guitar.
Painted black by the influence of the Stones, with their minds elevated by the tripped out dissertations of the Doors and their guitar heroics lead by Hendrix, the BirdDogs have forged a pure rock n roll album. Glorious.
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