GLASS EYE - OCTOBER 2000 reviews (best = 4 EYES)
THE LOVE DOGS
New Tricks (Tone-Cool)
3.5 EYES
If you think that old-school rootsy R&B is gone, then the latest Love Dogs release will be a great step in the right direction for you. The whole CD has that Louisiana, in-the-mud, backdoor-brawlin,' hush-puppy eatin,' classic funk-blues sound, with tracks like "Don't Bug Me" or "Why Did You Lie." But, you also get to sample other sounds like the Latin-Salsa-fied funk of "The Day Before I Met You" and the Bluesy-Zydeco sound of "Watch that Dog." There's even a little rough-house, redneck sound via "Long, Long, Day."
New Tricks has all the makings of a great CD, offering listeners what used to be excellent music from a time long passed (but is still the basic ingredient of what rock is today). The Dogs even do an excellent job of remaking Ray Charles, "You Be My Baby." Vocalist Scheer says: We're working with the sensibility of jump blues -- the humor, the ensemble playing -- but we definitely cover a lot of musical ground. we appreciate the older stuff but are a modern band." New Tricks brings us the style and sound that R &B has lacked for years and years. maybe other artists will pay heed to this CD.
Chris Miller
Boston Herald - Nov. 10 2000
Love Dogs Bite Into A Variety of Styles
The Love Dogs
New Tricks (Tone-Cool)
***1/2 (out of four)
The Boston-based Love Dogs have indeed learned some new tricks since 1998's "Heavy Petting" which pegged them as a charming bunch of blues-flavored reto-swingsters.
"New Tricks" the band's third album shows this horn and voice-powered octet tearing off the leash. It tackles not only jump blues, but vintage r&b, Bo Diddley style boogie, rolloing second line rhumba, zydeco and even gospel.
Chock full of surprises and a joy throughout, "New Tricks" captures the Dogs breaking free of the pack and sniffing out a broad new sound. -
Kevin R. Convey
The Boston Phoenix - Oct. 27, 2000
*** (3 stars) The Love Dogs NEW TRICKS
New England is hardly foreign territory to high voltage horn-driven jump blues ensembles. Roomful of Blues sprang forth nearly 25 years ago and started kicking some brass. And these days Boston's Love Dogs use a three piece sax section as the foundation for some tightly knit, uptempo blues-drenched dance material. The straightforward jump sounds include originals, as well as Tiny Bradshaw's "Well Oh Well" but the Dogs' third cd finds them chasing several other musical strains.
"Northbound Train" recalls greasy 70's funk a la Tower Of Power; other cuts touch on gospel, zydeco, and classic ray Charles rhythm & blues. Ed Scheer's powerful voice punches through the horns and the heavy bottom created by drummer Steve Brown and bassist Jesse Williams., especially on the set-opening "Don't Bug Me". On the eerie, rumbling "Long, Long Day" the horns (played by Myanna, Mario Perrett, and Bruce McGrath on various saxes) creak and whistle like an empty barn in a windstorm. And though it shows up in flashes on New Tricks, humor is an essential component in the jump tradition - just listen as pianist Alizon Lissance delivers the vocals on the cautionary tale "Richest Guy In The Graveyard".
- Bill Kisliuk
New Tricks
The Love Dogs (Tone-Cool)
Rating: *** (out of ****)
By Ed Kopp
The Love Dogs are eight fun-loving musicians from Boston who use Louis Jordanesque jump blues as a launching pad to other realms, including R&B, rock 'n roll and jazz. The Dogs' sound is fueled by a talented four-piece sax section augmented by vocals, piano, bass, drums and guitar.
New Tricks is the band's third and most wide-ranging release. Besides jump blues, the Dogs dabble in New Orleans funk ("Northband Train"), wacked-out zydeco ("Watch That Dog"), '50s R&B (Ray Charles' "You Be My Baby"), jazz ("Someone to Blame"), and gospel ("Hand It Over"). The album's high point is a deep-soul ballad entitled "You'll Never Know," which features a surprisingly emotional vocal performance by bandleader Ed Duato Scheer and some gorgeous blowing by the horn section. "You'll Never Know" is one of the most straightforward tunes this band has recorded, and one of its best.
The party vibe recalls Louis Prima's band with Keely Smith and Sam Butera, but with modern flourishes and funkier sensibilities. No matter the style, these musical canines show considerable chops.
The Dogs reportedly thrive in a club setting, so they might be wise to someday cut a live album. Until then, New Tricks stands as an enjoyable release from one of the better jump outfits around.
"These r&b hounds are more than ready to slip their leash and put the big blues bite on America." - Down Beat Magazine
The Love Dogs -
"New Tricks"
Rootsy R&B For The 21st Century
