"this isn't the way that / it's supposed to be / I pay my rent / I want security..."
The cagey 80's new wave vibes and 2000's indie rock hybridic sense of "Mercy Dogs" by Melbourne, Australia's Tough Uncle, and from their upcoming debut album "Ratboy Valentine", effortlessly delves into so many different genres that you feel on unsteady ground, not in a bad way though but in a good way. I mean the jagged come on guitars riding on a rolling bass groove that MJ would have loved has the addictive cool quality of a band like INXS (true Aussie rock royalty) but there are contemporary flavors, glistening organ stabs that feel more 90's post punk and other cues that feel like iterations of all those artistic leans that would rise up in the mid to late 2000's. I actually flashed on artists like Protomartyr, Squid and Cola but maybe less pretentious (was that a dig, I think not).
The whistling melodies like from an inside out Spaghetti Western and the air of mystery inherent in the brooding vocal countenance keeps the genre blending ever moving especially on the chorus that dips into Bowie's Scary Monsters places. Very cool things happening and then when the tonal shift for the runaway outro occurs I am smiling broadly. "Mercy Dogs" jams out at the end in a crowd pleasing way.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[The vocals croon above its brooding rhythm section on themes of transgression and paranoia. The track crescendos in a kraut-rock inspired blitz reminiscent of Deerhunter's Microcastle era.}
Cool beans. Tough Uncle's upcoming debut album "Ratboy Valentine" drops July 25, 2025.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://toughuncle.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Tough.Uncle/
Mercy Dogs is the latest single from Tough Uncle's debut album Ratboy Valentine. It is a moody groove glimmering with nightclub electric piano, snarling guitar. The vocals croon above its brooding rhythm section on themes of transgression and paranoia. The track crescendos in a kraut-rock inspired blitz reminiscent of Deerhunter's Microcastle era.
Mercy Dogs is the 2nd single from debut album Ratboy Valentine which is due out on 25/07/25
Tough Uncle, indie rock, alt rock, new wave leans, post punk, blendo rock, kraut rock inspired, Melbourne Australia, debut album "Ratboy Valentine", single "Mercy Dogs", jagged guitar, organ stabs,
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