review, from Buzz #2
Author : dan duran / Date : 2003-09-08 04:00
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Average members rating :
10.00
Author : dan duran / Date : 2003-09-08 04:00
View or add comments :
(0)Average members rating :
10.00
Not the debut album proper that many would have been hoping for, “The Doggler Effect†is instead a stop-gap compilation of the band’s best work to date, largely if not entirely recorded with previous Shrugs line ups. So while the new band (Geoff, Gordon and Natalie) hack away at what should be the Shrugs first full length release, we’ll just have to make do for now with what they’ve offered us here.
Ordered in reverse chronological order for some reason, “The Doggler Effect†opens with two contrasting tracks that effectively show off the schizophrenic sound the old band had. Tee Haka is the sound of a 60s beat group pre-empting punk, kinda like what the Who would have sounded like if Roger Daltrey hadn’t insisted on singing like such a girl all the time.
Ambivalence displays the other side of lead Shrug Geoff’s songwriting - a perfect slice of soulful country pop with lyrics that seem oddly out of place with the melodies - “I got this feeling/I only got one/but this feeling’s getting numb/I’m sitting on my bum/listening to your stink song...†Harsher words have been sung before, but there’s something in the performance that makes it OK to rhyme “bum†with “songâ€...
You’d already have heard a few of the songs here - Sorry Ian, Too Stoned to Say Goodbye and the song that put them on the Htown musical map back in 2001, Exhibit B are all present, as are live faves I’m Fucked and I Don’t Know What I’m Doing.
Sometimes however it’s the tracks that don’t come flying at you like a thunderbird on a Kinks trip that stand out. Spiders Come is a lovely little piece nestled in the middle of the CD, while Ruapuke and the Generator live-to-air version of Mustang Song are pure country, without the tassles & boots.
So as a standalone album it’s not bad, not bad at all, and as a stopgap filler album designed to clear the air and buy some time, it’s a killer. “The Doggler Effect†comes highly recommended for all the band’s existing groupies, and all fans of well written tunes, mad lyrics and the DIY who-gives-a-fuck attitude.
dan duran
Ordered in reverse chronological order for some reason, “The Doggler Effect†opens with two contrasting tracks that effectively show off the schizophrenic sound the old band had. Tee Haka is the sound of a 60s beat group pre-empting punk, kinda like what the Who would have sounded like if Roger Daltrey hadn’t insisted on singing like such a girl all the time.
Ambivalence displays the other side of lead Shrug Geoff’s songwriting - a perfect slice of soulful country pop with lyrics that seem oddly out of place with the melodies - “I got this feeling/I only got one/but this feeling’s getting numb/I’m sitting on my bum/listening to your stink song...†Harsher words have been sung before, but there’s something in the performance that makes it OK to rhyme “bum†with “songâ€...
You’d already have heard a few of the songs here - Sorry Ian, Too Stoned to Say Goodbye and the song that put them on the Htown musical map back in 2001, Exhibit B are all present, as are live faves I’m Fucked and I Don’t Know What I’m Doing.
Sometimes however it’s the tracks that don’t come flying at you like a thunderbird on a Kinks trip that stand out. Spiders Come is a lovely little piece nestled in the middle of the CD, while Ruapuke and the Generator live-to-air version of Mustang Song are pure country, without the tassles & boots.
So as a standalone album it’s not bad, not bad at all, and as a stopgap filler album designed to clear the air and buy some time, it’s a killer. “The Doggler Effect†comes highly recommended for all the band’s existing groupies, and all fans of well written tunes, mad lyrics and the DIY who-gives-a-fuck attitude.
dan duran