Bully Magazine by Ken Wohlrob For every bad, whiny, annoying, fake, manufactured hard rock or punk band we're subjected to on a daily basis, the Swedes have a genuine, balls-to-the-wall, super-heavy, outfit that knocks you on their ass. Installment #367 is Blind Dog. The other important thing about most Swedish hard rockers is that they all seem to find their own sound, something that seems to be harder for US bands these days. Blind Dog is an interesting culmination of sounds - stoner rock played with the aggression of a thrash metal band that loves to jam. The opener, "Don't Ask Me Where I Stand," rocks like bastard and features a fat, chunky groove that is undeniable in its simplistic infectiousness. For a trio, these guys play with the force of a quintet, delivering a solid punch on "Iron Cage" and "Back Off". This was something the band chose to emphasize on the album, limiting the production to only one or two overdubs and keeping the sound focused on the raw energy of the three musicians. You can hear the interplay between the three members - something too many bands lack these days - that is akin to the first two Sabbath and Zeppelin albums. Because of this, there is a ton of groove and energy packed into songs such as "Unsellable" and "There Must Be Better Ways Of Losing Your Mind." Also unique to their European mindset is a vocalist who actually sings - as opposed to the American deathtrap of either having a whiner or a growler. On "Let It Go" bassist/vocalist Tobias Nilsson delivers a very Josh Homme-esque style, but then alternates to a more deep-throated baritone on "Would I Make You Believe." Lyrically, Blind Dog comes to the table with a bit more inventiveness than most of their peers. Never falling for the half-assed tale of chicks and cars or the evil-obsessed ramblings of a doom band, Blind Dog actually put some thought into what they have to say (as their liner notes state, "The lyrics were written this time with a more acute awareness that people actually might listen to them.") But certainly a line like "Got to make way, for modern Midas touch, making the world a giant mall, new and improved, turn all to plastic" is a bit more cerebral than the average heavy band. The music is bombastic, fueled hard rock that weaves in a ton of different directions. Sometimes it touches on the desert rock of the Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age camp ("Let It Go" for example). At other times it gets close to the classic American doom sound of Wino's Spirit Caravan and The Obsessed on "Would I Make You Believe." At its best moments, it captures the vitality of 70s hard rock on "Fading Memories" and "Follow The Fools". Guitarist Joakin Thell does an incredible job of playing not only solid riffs but tasteful lead lines that fit the song, akin to the great guitarists of the 1970s who had that knack for thinking about more than lightning fast pentatonic scales. His playing on "Fading Memories" is textbook lead playing, both tasteful and blistering. Listening to a band like Blind Dog gives a music listener faith that you can still find good music, even if you have to dig around for it. The crap we're being sold in the U.S. will die out soon enough (all trends do), and thankfully bands like Blind Dog who have a genuine energy to them are there to remind us what good rock music should sound like. << Back to reviews of Captain Dog Rides Again