Byrddogs - ​The Josie

Byrddogs

​The Josie
self-released; 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen
​

Byrddogs is a four-piece rock band from Los Angeles, California that recently released a four- song EP entitled The Josie. The four songs are pretty different any way you look at it. It’s great that the band has some range but does little to build any foundation for the band or have the audience have much of an idea of what a full-length album would sound like. 

​The band opens with the highlight entitled “Moving Trees.” The guitars are initially atmospheric and clean while the drums hold down the fort. It doesn’t take very long for the distortion to come into the mix. The vocal delivery is solid but I would say that the horns are just as much of a focal point. They are some great swirling moments around the two-minute mark. “Moving Trees” felt like the most original sounding song of the four. Don’t miss the horn freak-out section.

I couldn’t help but think of early Mogwai when I heard the bass line from “Crawled Into My Head.”. This song is relatively straightforward without many surprises. The chorus revolves around a couple of distorted power chords and a classic ‘90s alternative feel. The same thing could be said about “Stare At The Sun” but this time it seems like an obvious tip of the hat to Smashing Pumpkins. That guitar sounds, some of the fills and even the vocal phrasing. 

They close with “The Wait” which was a good song and up there with “Moving Trees.” That being said it sounds like an almost completely different band. The influences here seem to stem from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Beatles, Pink Floyd and even Elton John came to mind at different times during the song. 

Byrddogs is a solid band but still have a lot to prove if they want to grow a large audience. They will want to narrow on a sound at some point and also get a bump in the recording quality as well. There is some serious potential here especially when listening to “Moving Trees” and “The Wait” but they fall into a category of wait and see.

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