Dogs In A Pile
Distroid
*** out of *****
The newest studio offering from Asbury Park, NJ based jamband Dogs In A Pile is a double album, giving listeners an overview of their wide-ranging talents. Distroid touches on everything from prog to country to reggae as the band stretches out and flows.
For the most part, jambands can take two routes in the studio, develop tight song foundations upon which they can expand on the live stage or look to polish their well-worn live favorites into more definitive visions. Dogs In A Pile chose the latter option as Distroid plays like a live show (minus their vast cover repertoire), with some added studio flourishes.
The core band, Jeremy Kaplan: Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, & Trumpet Brian Murray: Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, & Vocals Jimmy Law: Electric Guitar & Vocals Sam Lucid: Bass Guitar & Vocals Joe Babick: Drums & Percussion are tireless road warriors and have lived with these songs for some time before recording this album which was engineered by Kyle Vandekerkhoff, Brian Masella, & Jeremy Kaplan, mixed by Scoops Dardaris and mastered by Sam Torres.
Opening with a train sample very familiar to NYC commuters, "Go Set" gives a fair overview of the band's style. The tune runs long with off kilter funk, playful lyrics, some prog influenced changes and a big rocky ending. Like a host of modern jam outfits, Phish is a clear influence as the group twists and turns and "Gets on with the show" during the opening song.
"Lucia's Secret" is a bit of an outlier on the record. The track starts off as a piano ballad with relationship questioning lyrics, before morphing with a Beatle inspired chorus. Outside of this, the band's lyrics and singing take a back seat to the musicianship on display. The easy flowing funky guitar, wah-wah and harmonies color "Nicolette" while "My Disguise" is very much of the modern jamband scene with funky rocky changes and added horns from The Ocean Avenue Stompers, Ian Gray: Trombone Wil Schade: Tenor Saxophone Joe Gullace: Trumpet.
Dogs In A Pile's musicality can be impressive as the band shows their wide range of styles and genre influences often from measure to measure. "Shenanigans" is part shuffling snare country rock before shifting towards a reggae finale while "The Bag" starts soulful, before pinballing between ominous rock and disco fueled dance floor ready passages. "¿Por Qué, Pedro?" is their oddest mashup, jumping between Mexican inspired sounds (complete with excellent trumpet) and breakneck thrash metal/punk rock as they tell the tale of a conservative man's downfall from being chased by the FBI.
The group gives a mixed bag jumbled effort on the mushroom laced lounge music of the freaky "Samba for Sam" which feels about two styles too many for a tune, while extended album centerpiece "Thomas Duncan, Pt. 3" may work on the live stage, but feels a bit stilted on this album.
Therein lies the balance and issue for all jambands, studio records are not their forte. All these songs will evolve and develop better/more definitive versions on the live stage (if they haven't already) as the young band continues to grow and tour. Distroid is a solid representation of the band's talents, but to truly experience the songs, catch Dogs In A Pile live.
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