“Kicking Every Day” was one of the first vinyl purchases I made, and it was met with some weird looks and comments by my friends. Six years later, I don’t regret my decision to buy this album. No, it’s not the perfect indie rock album, but the charm it imprinted on me is more important than its musical significance.
All Dogs is an Ohio band formed in 2012 who have not lasted long in the laborious music industry. After releasing “Kicking Every Day”, the band has not released a single track since then.
Their Twitter page hasn’t had any activity for 5 years, so I am assuming they’ve faded and dispersed on their own paths unfortunately.
The band’s vocalist, Maryn Jones, initially formed the band with bassist, Amanda Bartley. The duo self-released a split with another local Ohio band, slouch.
A few more years passed and the band added two more members, Jesse Withers, a drummer, and Nick Harris, another guitarist, to the lineup. All this background info is provided by this small biography on Allmusic.
With their fourth member added, the band began to record “Kicking Every Day” on Salinas Records out of Detroit, MI, and they released the album August 28, 2015.
Tracks and Thoughts
Thankfully, All Dogs gets right to business with “Black Hole” being the first track of the album. I am sure if I didn’t enjoy this song, I wouldn’t enjoy this album as much as I do.
“Black Hole” grinds and winds us into oblivion and the perspective of this band. It roots our thoughts for the rest of the album to Jones’ vocals and Withers’ quiet explosions on the drums.
Another stand out track on this release is “That Kind of Girl”. It has the most classically rooted guitar riffs and pop-punk sound on the album.
By being short and sweet, this song gets to the core of the band’s talent, which are their vocals and guitar. No extra time is spent on unnecessary rhythms and intros.
Beautiful blooming buds take time and warmth to capture the eyes of artists. In “The Garden” Jones’ lower-quality vocals combine with scratchy acoustic guitar to create somber beauty in a dew-y paradise. This song has a slow burning beauty that I find to be encapsulating.
Concluding Musings
I can’t chop up the rest of this album to filler because some songs reach out differently to people that have unique perspectives compared to my own.
I find much of the rest of this album repetitive in terms of sound and content. “Skin” and “How Long” aren’t the most stand out tracks, yet they still have the band’s core sound flowing through them.
Overall, All Dogs don’t stand out compared to Pavement, Modest Mouse or any other seminal indie classic, but their strong roots and sounds make them enjoyable even if they don’t sit in the center of attention.
