Sly Dog have just unleashed their new EP ‘The Future’s Ours’, and this Hertfordshire 5 piece have nailed their Brit Pop flag well and truly to the mast. Taking their cue from Oasis in their mid 90s pomp, Sly Dog have brought their own brand of hedonistic rock n roll to the fore, and this music brims with aspirational exuberance. The title to this EP niftily sums up what Sly Dog are about, and that is making positive feel good music that does indeed look back to those halcyon days of Brit Pop swagger, but also bringing it into the present day in their own inimitable way.
Sly Dog have a broad canvas in terms of musical influences, and they openly admit to their love of the Stone Roses, The Jam, The Rolling Stones and The Who. There is also plenty of Soul in the shape of the Supremes and Marvin Gaye thrown in for good measure. Who can blame Sly Dog for being influenced by some of the best music ever recorded, and filtering these influences into something that is uniquely their own.
‘The Future’s Ours’ is an EP that showcases Sly Dog’s potential and it also reveals their love of Oasis in their heyday. Songs like ‘Faith in me’ and ‘Shadows’ highlight a debt to the ‘Definitely Maybe’ period. The opening bars and the thick guitar sound of ‘Shadows’ will remind those of a certain vintage of the Psychedelically tinged ‘Shakemaker’. Oasis have never been able to disguise their influences, and I think Sly Dog are more than happy to wear their influences on their shirt sleeves. This is not necessarily a bad thing as Sly Dog are making music for people to sing along to as opposed to rubbing your chin with your feet up trying to work out the intricacies of a 25 minute Prog Rock Opus.
Originality is an over used word and pop music has always fed on itself, and it’s what a band does with their influences that matter. Sly Dog are young and do not lack confidence, which is very important when you want your music to be heard, at a time when it seems harder than ever to get your music across in an age where the pleasure of discovering a band and listening to an album has been altered by the inconvenience of I-Tunes and the delete button culture that the internet has spawned. Sly Dog at least have bucked that trend with a UK tour around England in the summer, which reveals that this band is prepared to work hard and slug it out when it matters. Sly Dog have a keen appreciation of great music, and as artists they will surely want to push and explore their sound even further, as all great bands inevitably do. *(Editor says- would love to see this band move away from obvious Oasis references into more their own space in time).
