Lettin' the Dogs out for 2017

Let’s hope 2017 goes a little better than 2016. 

Most people, at least the ones I talk to, agree that 2016 was, in the words of a recent Cracked Magazine podcast, a “dumpster fire of a year.” Politics in countries around the world were acrimonious, to say the least, and sometimes with leaders emerging that may be scary to some; the climate -- the one that some people say isn’t changing -- produced some very weird, destructive weather.

We also lost some truly immortal figures in rock and roll, from the big names like David Bowie, Maurice White, Prince, and Lemmy, to others that weren’t as well known but were just as influential, such as Lonnie Mack, one of rock’s earliest guitar heroes.

The good news is that musically, at least in the garage rock world, 2017 is actually off to a fantastic start, and we here at Garagerocktopia are here to tell you all about it.

 It’s gonna take more than a few good rock and roll albums to fix planet Earth, but you know, the forces of good have at times started with less. And, if the road back begins with the Dogs' Death by Drowning , it’s not a bad start at all.

Hitting the streets this week – the first week of January, singer Kristopher Schau and company have uncorked what is easily the band’s best effort. Overall, the album is solid collection of fiery rockers. But Schau serves notice that he can sing slower, more ballad-leaning material as well as anyone operating out of the garage-rock/punk orbit.

Schau was kind enough to talk with Garagerocktopia via email about the new album and what’s up these days with the Dogs. While 2016 was such a crap sandwich for so many around the world, it seems it was less so for the Dogs. This band has worked its tailbones off, and the result seems to be that the Dogs are starting finally to get the recognition that, in our opinions anyway, they so richly deserve.

“It looks like it’s all about touring really,” Schau said. “The more you play, the better you get, and after a while better opportunities seem to present themselves. For instance, we opened up for Bruce Springsteen in Oslo this summer. That’s something that never would have happened two years ago, and I think it all comes down to constant touring. Before that, nagging Norway to death was basically our only business model.”

For Schau, putting out good music isn’t just something that can wait around until he has time – the artistic instinct actually burns at him, pushing him to a level that’s unusually prolific.

“For me it’s still all about necessity. I NEED to get these albums out,” Schau emphasized. “Not because I’m afraid of dying or anything, but because I’m terrified of forgetting all the songs that keep popping up in my head. There’s so much stuff I keep on forgetting, including a lot of music. If I can get some of it out there, on an actual album, I’m safe. It feels like rescuing some animal or something.”

“It’s a constant race against time. This album will be out January 2nd, but I’m already in the process of choosing which ideas to follow up with on an album for 2018. So much music and so little time. It stresses me out to no end., and I’m not getting any younger. It’s a constant pressure just picking the right songs with which to finish.”

“Some of those ideas will lose; others will die and forever be lost, so I will have to try and save the strongest ones. I feel like an octopus, trying to decide which babies will have the best chances of survival. It feels like I’m multitasking with all eight arms.”

The album’s first song to go public is the punkish “Oslo,” has already been out for a while. It’s a terrificly raw rocker which stands out on a very good album. But Schau says it’s not the best gauge by which to judge Death by Drowning.

“It’s by far the most agressive sounding one from the album, so it’s probably not that representative,” Schau posited. “Also, because of the lyrics mentioning Oslo, it puts the band at a specific geographical place; something I’ve tried to avoid in the past. This time though it felt like it couldn’t be avoided.”

But Death by Drowning reveals an excellent range of material for the Dogs. While “Oslo” is by far the most in-your-face song, there’s no shortage of catchy rockers on the album.

“Declaration of Isolation,””All of Us Kids Were Accidents” and “Stay Under Water” are also fairly raw but more hook-driven. Parhaps the best rocker on the album is “Where the Circle Joins,” which has a very faint Who echo about it, and “Get Away From Me” which veers in a classic rock direction.

But where the Dogs have really seperated themselves from, if you will, the rest of the pack is on slower material. Schau’s vocals are still edgy, but with an earnest but muted anguish not often found with garage rock bands.

Yes, many bands – even if the members are all geezers  -- can nail down that teen mopieness down just fine. But Schau instead sounds much like a world-weary grown-up on songs like “Why is the Flesh so Strong?,” which also displays some solid lyricism.

Taking the music in new directions while keeping the sound that fans have come to expect is a very difficult balance to strike, something that has proven the demise of many a good band. But this was the tightrope on which the band wanted to dance, and on Death by Drowning the band has succeeded masterfully.

“I guess we experience the same thing as a lot of other bands,” Schau confirmed. “Musically, we kind of wandered off, trying new stuff, but at the same time we try to keep sounding more and more like ‘us.’”

“Our bass player (knew a string quartet so he managed to get them in for ‘Why Is The Flesh So Strong,’ and we even had time for some girls to do a gospel ending on ‘It Still Hurts.’ It’s all over the place basically, but it still sounds like The Dogs.

”Some Love” also turned out really good. It’s probably one of the ones I’m most pleassed with lyrically because it has a nice flow to it. Thank God it’ll end up on vinyl. It deserves a physical life.”


Since Garagerocktopia last talked to Schau, the band has secured a record deal – a big development that means the band will finally have a little help getting its music out. One great benefit is that their music will be more readily available to those of us outside of Norway.

“It should be possible to get a hold of the new album all over the world,” Schau said. “It should, as always, be available digitally, as well as on vinyl. We’re not sure about CDs. I guess they have to figure out if there’s still a market for them.”

Despite the obvious amounts of time and effort the Dogs have put in to making the new album, they won’t be kicking back just yet. They will be touring in early 2017, and it will already be time to work on the next album.

“We’ll do a two month stretch in February and March, and then start making demos for the 2018-album in April and May,” explained Schau. “Then, we’ll do festivals in June and July, record the next album some time in August, and come 2018 we’ll repeat the process.”

“We usually take some time off from the band in September and October to avoid killing each other, and that’s when I try to sort out what ideas to proceed with for the forthcoming album.”

As always, the band would love to bring their music in person to our shores here in North America, and Schau even expressed some faint hope that it could happen. There would have to be a lot of lucky breaks first, though.

“It will come down to money, as always,” Schau admitted. “We’re six guys in the band. Add a sound guy and a guy on lights, and the airfare alone will be a big issue. We did a support tour for Kvelertak this autumn that nearly broke our necks financially, so we’ll have to see how the spring tour goes. In the best of worlds we would do a U.S. tour in the fall, but don’t count on it.”

Like pretty much everyone else we’ve profiled on this blog, the Dogs have worked extremely hard at making great rock and roll. Of course, fame and fortune would be wonderful outcomes, but Schau is thankful that there are people far beyond his Oslo hometown that dig the band’s music so much.

“It’s still a thrill to me that somebody on the other side of the planet cares about what we’re doing,” said Schau. “It still amazes me, and make me even more determined to keep on doing this until I die.”

Not familiar with the Dogs? Check out our first feature about this great band.