Philadelphia, PA’s DOGS ON ACID have released “Make It Easy” from their self-titled debut LP via BrooklynVegan magazine, who compared the band to the 90s’ Merge sound. Dogs on Acidwill be released on Jade Tree on August 28th, 2015 and is now available for pre-order from the label.
“Meat-and-potatoes indie rock built around riffs both super chunky and Superchunk-y, a combo that more than merits your rapt attention.” –SPIN
“There isn’t a shred of pretension to be found on the first two singles we’ve heard from Dogs On Acid and that’s an impressive feat for a band who manages to contain big, overwhelming emotions in small cages.” –Stereogum
“Dogs on Acid sound bigger and fuller than the sum of its parts. This robustness serves as a sonically different but similarly powerful soundtrack” –Impose
The members of Dogs on Acid have only been playing together since 2014, but there’s nothing novice about them. For starters, the band is a veritable supergroup of revered Philadelphia acts, featuring members of Algernon Cadwallader, Snowing and others to make Dogs On Acid yet another export from the much buzzed-about scene.
This longstanding entrenchment in Philadelphia’s music landscape has allowed the punk/indie band — singer/guitarist Peter Helmis, guitarist Joe Reinhart, bassist Nate Dionne and drummer Nick Tazza — a refreshing amount of familiarity to bypass the typical startup grunt work that comes with forming a new project and focus on the most important thing: the music. And while the mention of their past projects might gain the band a few more eyeballs or perked-up ears, the last thing Dogs On Acid want to do is halt progression or resort to propping up their past to sustain their present.
As such, the songs on Dogs On Acid at times feel effortless in the best way: “The Prick” stomps like Pinkerton-era Weezer; the playful hooks of “Flushed” make for an earworm surprise; and ‘90s indie-rock influences like Pavement, Built to Spill and Archers of Loaf shine through on songs such as “Make It Easy.”
But above all, Dogs On Acid is an album with a distinct personality, the result of the band rejecting desires to overthink things and play what feels right. That manifested itself in the studio, where the group tracked much of the album live with minimum overdubs to encapsulate what it’s like at a Dogs On Acid show: a loose, vibrant experience — much like the band itself — where listeners are free to let all preconceived notions and past baggage float away, and instead celebrate the here and now.
