Chifa Dog - Good Scare

​Chifa Dog

​Good Scare
self-released; 2017

​3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Chifa Dog aka Matthew Scott is DIY musician from New Zealand. He released a fourteen-song album entitled Good Scare. His music is fairly straightforward consisting of guitar, drums, bass and vocals. 

​The songs are well written but the recording production and quality is the thing that needed improvements. For some reason he distorts his voice which sits on top of the mix a little too much and there is not much warmth and low-end. Some songs fare better than others. That being said there are some catchy songs. The first one that popped out to me was “Dumb Luck” which has an infectious vocal line.

I was also his fan of his guitar work which reminded me of John Frusciante at times. You can hear some of this on “The First House on the Right.” “Riverside” is fairly catchy power pop while “Cosmic Latte #FF8E7” almost has an early Beck vibe.

I appreciated the vocals on “Night in the Pyramid.” The vocal harmonies work well here and I enjoyed the groove as well. I thought “Black Hole” was a highlight. It’s a really well written song and was immediately catchy to my ears. The song is accessible right off the bat. As the album progresses I thought the other highlights were the more subtle “Candiru,” “Web In Front” and the closer “Cemetery Road.”

Good Scare is a mixed album in plenty of ways. The production is all over the place and different on almost every song and I would argue there were clear highlights. I think this is a solid DIY release.

I’d like to hear Scott get to the next level in the production department so the songs could reach some of their potential. Overall this is a decent start and one to keep your eye on.

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