| CD REVIEW V/A (Various artists) |
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Band : V/A (Various artists) Kerbdog was an Alternative Rock band from Kilkenny, Ireland (situated some 40 km North from Waterford, and about 100 km SW from Dublin), which was founded in 1991 as Rollercoaster when singer/ guitarist Cormac Battle, bassist Colin Fennelly and drummer Darragh Butler were still in College (secondary level). Although the members díd get their leaving papers (eventually) they concentrated on their music foremost, playing live shows with primarily covers from the likes of Sonic Youth, Loop, Spaceman 3 and Fudge Tunnel. The band actually spent a year in London, but returned to Kilkenny when they couldn't win interest from the UK music press. In early 1992 second guitarist Billy Dalton joined the band. His fondness for Thrash Metal acts Metallica and Slayer strangely complimented Battle's fascination with the British and New York Underground, and the songs that came forth from these combined influences were visceral and cerebral. The bandmembers realised that their music had potential for success, and therefore Billy left his job and the others dropped out of College. They subsequently hanged their name in honour of a Californian BMX team they were fond of. In February 1992 Kerbdog supported Therapy? in their hometown, and the latter suggested they record a demo as soon as possible to send it out to record labels. A first demo was recorded during that same summer, but garnered no response at all. A second demo however, had no less than 22 labels calling in on 'em, and the youngsters met all of 'em in a 2-day setting. They signed to Mercury Records' subsidiary Vertigo in early 1993, and recorded their self-titled album that summer at Rockfield Studios in Wales (nice detail: Sepultura were there too, to record their Chaos A.D. Album) with Jack Endino (known for his work with Soundgarden, Nirvana, and so many others) as producer. Prior to the album's 1994 release, Virgin released two 1993 singles by the band (both failing to chart), and the band even put in a UK tour with The Almighty during winter, following it up with another run of gigs in early 2004 (including a support slot with Therapy?). In contrast with the singles, the album itself did (goin' up to #97), and ensuing singles hit the charts with increasing success, Dry Riser reaching #60 and Dummy Crusher peaking at #37. In early 1996 the Mercury Music Group was bought over by Polygram, which saw the band shift to Vertigo's sister label Fontana Records. That sping Kerbdog travelled to Los Angeles to record its second album On the Turn with producer GGGarth (then best known for his work with Rage Against the Machine). Dalton left the band a couple of months after the recordings. Preceding the album's release, there was the JJ's Song EP (charted at #139), followed by single Sally (hit #69 in the charts)in September...and later in 1996 the band recorded a session for a radio show. But the album itself was repeatedly delayed, until it was finally released in March 1997. By then, the band had completely lost its momentum, and as a result the album sold pretty poorly (even though it peaked at #64 in the album charts). Another effect was that the band was dropped from the label, their back catalog deleted before the year was through! The band played their final gig in Dublin on March 7, 1998...but that's not the end of the band members' story! Because Battle and Butler enlisted bassist Mick Murphy and started the Alternative Pop/ Rock band Wilt, which played its first gig in Dublin only 19 days after Kerbdog had thrown in the towel. Wilt went on to make two tasty albums (2000's Bastinado and 2002's My Medicine – I'm not completely certain at the moment of writing, but I dó think I have both)...which were seen as Ireland's version of Hüsker Dü and Weezer...before breaking up in early 2003. And the story continues... Because between 2005 and 2008 Kerbdog reformed in its 3-man setting for several one-off shows and festival appearances, stating that due to the changes in their personal lives they had no plans to record any new material. When Kerbdog played at the Kilkenny Pumpalooza festival in August 2008, they were joined on stage by Dalton for 7 songs. Long intro...but a necessary one, for in spite of their moderate output Kerbdog, and even though in their lifetime they never got the attention or acclaim they deserved, the band had influenced many present day bands. Phil Rhodes, co-founder of Derby (mid-England) based label Stressed Sumo felt the need to give this band a decent tribute, and thus the label decided to invite some of their favourite “up and coming” bands (in order of appearance: Cars On Fire, Left Side Brain, Dutch Shultz, Mike Got Spiked, Days Of Worth, Stations, Knievel Genius, Hold Your Horse Is, Ocean Bottom Nightmare, and Dry Rise) as well as a couple of established acts they love (Frank Turner, Jamie Lenman of Reuben, and Dave McPherson of InMe) to record their favourite Kerbdog song. This resulted in the bands covering no less than 8 songs off the second album, where only 3 chose to pick a song off the debut. Two bands found their favourite Kerbdog song on one of their singles. Most of those came out in several versions, and on the “b-sides” one would not only find Kerbdog covering other bands, but also occasionally put in exclusive bonus tracks. The album also contains liner notes from Battle himself (so I guess he'll tell you whence the songs came from), as well as from Kerrang! journalist Simon Young, Rock Sound's Ken McGrath, and Edwin McFee of NME and Alternative Ulster. “Metallica influenced proto-Grunge”, is what this band's sound has been described at one time, and having heard this compilation, I sure feel like finding out what the original material sounded like! That's good, isn't it? Compilation, so no rating, but depending on whether I can get myself a copy of the retail album to allow me to browse through the liner notes, Pledge may yet land in my year-lists! Tony. |