Dogs on Shady Lane – The Knife | EP Review
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Lauren Records
One of the most comforting things about music, to me, is that there are songs for every possible situation life could throw at you. There are songs for dancing, songs for crying, songs for driving 100 mph down an empty road at 2 am just to feel some intensity. You get what I mean. There’s a bit of Venn Diagram-level overlap in some categories (i.e., you might work out to some of the same songs you party to), but certain genres, sounds, and overall vibes exist at two opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. You’re not gonna put on Joni Mitchell’s Blue while getting ready for your wedding, the same way you wouldn’t put on Megan Thee Stallion when you need to wallow. Brooklyn-via-Providence four-piece Dogs on Shady Lane seeks to challenge this thinking with their latest EP, The Knife. Throughout these four songs, the band refuses to be put into any of these reductive categories, pulling from all sections of the Feelings Wheel to create songs that can soundtrack everything from your next rage room to a contemplative winter night by the fireplace.
What began with Tori Hall in her college dorm room, Dogs on Shady Lane has existed in a multitude of lineups since 2018, finally settling into its current four-piece: Hall alongside Evan Weinstein, Calder Mansfield, and Grace Goss. The group’s breakout single, 2022’s “Cole St.,” explores an all-consuming love set to a breezy, borderline-twee backing, complete with muted horns, faraway claps, and tight vocal harmonies. On that song, Hall promises, “I’ll give you everything I own,” willing to surrender all of her earthly belongings in the name of devotion. On The Knife, Dogs refine their left-of-center indie sound by countering this softness with an intensity and pure grit we’ve not yet seen from the group. As far as I’m concerned, the grungier, the better — shit that makes you want to punch a wall but also think about the meaning of It All. Throughout this EP’s 13 minutes, I can hear influences from classic Washington grunge acts like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and 7 Year Bitch, but also recent shoegaze groups like Pity Sex and Weatherday.
The Knife exists in extremes. The EP looks at love through different lenses: a neglectful partner, the settled-dust post-breakup feeling of emptiness, washed-up guys with goatees, and the near-obsessive feelings of a new romance. It opens with “Knife (Lady),” a back-and-forth rocker that kicks off with fuzzy, jolting guitars, eventually beginning its cycle of intense throws of distortion, giving way to pared-down, gentler, all-around chiller grooves. The song exists somewhere between My Bloody Valentine’s classic shoegaze crunch and Faye Webster’s jazzy interludes. The give-and-take makes it so that you could be giving your best version of a Millennial Head Banger, then ten seconds later want to lay on a plush velvet couch with a nightcap.
Throughout The Knife, Dogs on Shady Lane take listeners on an exploration of the emotional contradictions we as humans ceaselessly exist in. Many feelings can be true at once, and this is the reality of the human psyche! There is hate in love, sadness in joy, and confusion in certainty. It’s scary, but it’s also kind of wonderful. The band displays this perfectly as a throughline of the EP: the gently sweet verse melody of “Pile of Photos” clashing with swells of aggressive drums and guitar or the waltzy, dreamy, almost ambient breakdown of “Basement” giving way to a brutally fuzzed out jam perfect for exorcising all of your most negative feelings. There’s an erratic back-and-forth to the entire EP that perfectly parallels the highs and lows of emotionally tumultuous relationships.
Closing track, “18,” is the EP’s purest moment. Initially released in 2020, Hall recorded all the vocals and instruments herself, including supporting harmonies, electric and acoustic guitars. The eerie electric guitar passes that come and go, combined with the miles-away drums, give the track a distant feeling. Coming off the back of the grungy explosion that is the end of “Basement,” “18” provides yet another contradiction for listeners to ponder. Hall’s vocal delivery is akin to the whispery voices of Phoebe Bridgers or Billie Eilish, making the song feel like a secret. The hook, “I’m too old to be crying so much,” caught me off guard and hit my cancer sun and moon right in the jugular upon first listen. Hearing words I’ve said to myself amidst my latest quarter-life crisis breakdown emphatically sung back to me from all angles of my headphones was one of those disorientingly unique feelings of an artist just getting me. Hall’s haunting vocals stuck with me for days after the song ended. I can still hear her in my head as I’m typing this. The Knife revels in contradictions, but Dogs on Shady Lane take listeners on a sonic, lyrical, and emotional journey that reflects the erratic feelings we all have about love. Looking for the perfect blend of grunge, punk, jazz, and folk? Lyrics that feel like they were written specifically for you? The search ends here.
Cassidy is a music writer and cultural researcher currently based in Brooklyn. She loves many things, including but not limited to rabbit holes, Caroline Polachek, blueberry pancakes, her cat Seamus, and adding to her record collection. She is on Twitter @cassidynicolee_, and you can check out more of her writing on Medium.
