Snack Fans album cover-contributed. Band photo: Moe Meade
Barking.
That is the London quartet Andrew, Matthew, Jono and Robert (of no fixed surnames) aka Dog Chocolate, whose debut album Snack Fans marries post-punk guitars with yelpy vocals, wonky keyboards and very Beefheart-inspired short sharp shocks in their rhythm section.
There aren’t many albums which make you chuckle and move your hips at the same time. But the controlled chaos of this suggests great things for 2016. Great, wry storytelling reminiscent of the best Peel-era bands like Big Flame, Stump and The Stretchheads, and a call to optimism in the face of mortality feature in their work.
Upset The Rhythm, the wonderful London-based label, have snapped them up- always a guarantee of quality and integrity.I’m pretty sure their gigs will be noting short of a near riot.
A particular favourite is Be a Bloody River, which ends with Robert’s wail -a man who sounds like an exhausted toddler who has been repeatedly told he has to go to bed, and no more sweets.
Sweary, silly, and surreal, Dog Choc (as they’re known for short) will make your life chirpier and 100% noisier. And they are much more interesting than Sleaford fucking Mods.
Snack Fans is out on March 18th.
http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk
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