{"id":17805,"date":"2019-12-21T05:30:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T10:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17805"},"modified":"2019-11-25T11:50:54","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T16:50:54","slug":"hit-dogs-serious-rock-leavened-with-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/21\/hit-dogs-serious-rock-leavened-with-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit Dogs: Serious Rock, Leavened with Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the mid-1980s, Frank Zappa released an album with a question for a title: Does Humor Belong in Music?<\/i> While much of the guitarist-bandleader-composer’s music was quite serious, his humor-focused material occupied a significant place in his body of work. Asheville rock trio Hit Dogs has a similar collective philosophy: while they’re certainly not a comedy act, humor is one of the ingredients of the band’s music. A new album, Without Further Ado<\/i> demonstrates that Hit Dogs can elicit laughs while maintaining a serious commitment to serving up melodic, rocking tunes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When they hear the opening track on Hit Dogs’ new album, some listeners may wonder if they’ve somehow mistakenly popped in a CD by a different group. The band’s musical hallmarks \u2013 sharp rock hooks, a tight trio sound and strong vocal harmonies \u2013 aren’t in immediate evidence. Instead, \u201cWithout Further Ado\u201d presents what sounds like a Latin band performing live in front of a massive, adoring audience. A lengthy Spanish-language voiceover eventually introduces the group. That track leads seamlessly into \u201cLos Hit Dogs,\u201d a rocker with a melody that initially builds on the Latin flavor of the introduction. It’s only around the one-minute mark of the second tune that Hit Dogs remove their virtual Mexican wrestling masks to reveal their true ’90s-styled alterna-rocking nature.<\/p>\n

Guitarist and lead singer Neal Ward laughs about the musical red herrings that kick off Without Further Ado<\/i>. \u201cAllen [Millsapps, drummer] and I spent a late night on the computer getting that intro track together,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt [sounded like a] giant concert or some ridiculous TV show, so we wrote over-the-top dialogue that could only be done in Spanish. Because then you know that it would be a joke: ‘It’s going to be the greatest thing you’ve ever heard!’\u201d<\/p>\n

The development of that in-joke track led directly to the inspiration that brought forth \u201cLos Hit Dogs\u201d as well. \u201cI don’t think we really have a lot of intention about what a song ends up being,\u201d Millsapps says. \u201cIt just happens. I think it comes with some innate chemistry between the three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

That effortless nature is something that the trio values. \u201cA spark ends up becoming a whole song fairly easily,\u201d Millsapps says. \u201cAnd if it’s not<\/i> easy, we may scrap it.\u201d Or if an idea seems half-formed, they might set it aside. \u201cThere have been a couple times when we back-burnered something,\u201d Ward says. \u201cWe’re like, ‘Y’know, there’s something<\/i> there, but \u2026 not yet.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bassist John Lindsey says that was the case with \u201cSomnium\u201d and \u201cDouble Barrel,\u201d two standout tracks on Without Further Ado<\/i>. \u201cWe played around with the arrangement and changed things up more on those than any other songs,\u201d he says. The fret-buzzing, distorted bottom end of those cuts may evoke thoughts of Alice in Chains, Queens of the Stone Age or early solo Ozzy Osbourne. The band makes the most of the power trio format; specifically, Lindsey and Millsapps provide playing that’s in turns busy and simple, always serving the needs of the particular song.<\/p>\n

But the music on Without Further Ado<\/i> is quite varied, showcasing the musical breadth of the trio. \u201cCreeper\u201d is built around electronic drum tracks and synthesizers; the result sounds halfway between a 1980s video arcade and some funky ’70s late-night FM radio soul.<\/p>\n

Still, humor pops up in Hit Dogs’ music again and again. A mischievously backhanded nod to Nirvana, \u201cMr. Fuzzypants Will Have His Revenge on Oteen\u201d is equal parts musical subtlety and hard-rocking groove. But it opens with the crowing of the titular rooster formerly owned by Millsapps. \u201cWe laugh every time we hear that one on the radio,\u201d says Ward.<\/p>\n

At its core, \u201cMr. Fuzzypants…\u201d also sounds very much like the kind of song that could appeal to an audience of rock fans well beyond Hit Dogs’ Asheville base of operations. \u201cA well-constructed song has some catchy licks and unexpected turns, but musically it still makes sense,\u201d Ward says. \u201cAnd good harmony is always a plus.\u201d But he admits that humor \u2013 which does<\/i> belong in music, after all \u2013 informs it all. \u201cAs a band, we take things pretty lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the mid-1980s, Frank Zappa released an album with a question for a title: Does Humor Belong in Music? While much of the guitarist-bandleader-composer’s music was quite serious, his humor-focused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,62],"tags":[237,4052],"class_list":["post-17805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-asheville","tag-hit-dogs","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17808,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17805\/revisions\/17808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}