Kerb-a-likes

[mexicanwaver]

Hey,

We all know that the dog are pretty damn unique, but I was wondering whether anyone else has heard any other bands that have a similar sound (using the On The Turn era as the reference point)?

I've seen lots of bands saying they're influenced by Kerbdog, and some even proclaiming to sound like them (but I've never been convinced).

I'm not really looking for a Kerbdog MKII, but it's just more out of curiousity I guess.

I think Battle had a very distinctive format of songwriting, that he can be very proud of. Also, a lot of the songs (especially on On The Turn) seem to be very bass driven. I'm yet to hear another band capture this same sort of style, without sounding too deliberate.

dan

[Conor]

Hey,
For the On The Turn sound you should listen to Copper Blue by Sugar. Pretty much anything by Sugar really I think. It is in fact Battle's favourite album. Also, early R.E.M stuff I think, kind of stuff like It's The End Of The World As We Know It. Sonic Youth and Fugazi always remind me of Kerbdog in places as well. They're both influences on Cormac. Nowadays though, it's very interesting to hear where they've influenced people. I remember reading an interview with InMe where they said they're bug Battle fans and I could hear all the little nods to him in their music ever after.
Conor

[mexicanwaver]

Yeah, I've always been a fan of Sugar/Bob Mould/Husker Du, Fugazi, REM and Sonic Youth.....but I've always thoght of these bands as being kind of ingredients of the Kerbdog sound, rather than sounding like them.

I guess what I'm looking for is not really a band that intentionally wants to sound like Kerbdog (cos that would be cheesy and more like a tribute band), but maybe just a band that sounds like them by sheer coincidence.

I've not really heard much of InMe.......I saw them supporting Feeder at the Ambassador a couple of years ago, but I think I dismissed them on the grounds of being a bit too pretentious, derived and eager-to-please. That said, I've heard people say good things about their latest album, so maybe I should check it out.

dan

[dragginthru]

InMe are a cool band actually, theyve grown on me (I'm seeing them in London this week).

Theres a canadian band called Three Days Grace, which although a bit more predictable, would IMO appeal to KD fans.

And in a non-deliberate/tribute way, there is of course Dry Rise
http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/music.html

[dragginthru]

I remember reading an interview with InMe where they said they're bug Battle fans and I could hear all the little nods to him in their music ever after.
Conor

And yeah they are, I was out with them a year or so ago and playing air guitar to JJs song with Dave McPherson (singer) in the club night I used to run in Northampton. Dave loves On The Turn but doesnt like the first album a great deal, thinks is too much like metallica!

[mexicanwaver]

InMe are a cool band actually, theyve grown on me (I'm seeing them in London this week).

Theres a canadian band called Three Days Grace, which although a bit more predictable, would IMO appeal to KD fans.

And in a non-deliberate/tribute way, there is of course Dry Rise
http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/music.html

Will have to check out Three Days Grace.......

Gaz, do Dry Rise have much stuff recorded at the moment? I think all I've heard is about 3 tracks......but it'd be good to hear some more. I can't get to any gigs either, as I'm living in Amsterdam at the moment. Even when I'm in the UK, I think most of your gigs are down south anyway aren't they (I'm from Chester)?

[dragginthru]

Heres the whole lot for you then... I'll also repost this in our forum on here. There do exist live tracks and older demos but none to the same kind of standard that I would post public links to them! But if anyone wanted to hear extra stuff send me a PM and you can hear other stuff.

All our material is produced by John Mitchell who recorded the new Funeral For A Friend album "Hours".

SINGLES

http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/mp3s/01_dry_rise-interstellar.mp3 - currently our most well-liked song amongst our fans. Has appeared on a couple of compilation CDs also. Its pretty epic and is the first track with drummer Glenn Hooper (of Easyworld fame).

http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/mp3s/01_dry_rise-the_big_i_am.mp3 - "THE BIG I AM" As featured on Scuzz music channel (Sky TV) and May 2004 Rock Sound magazine cover CD. As reviewed by Bowling for Soup. This song features arguably one of the most annoying guitar riffs ever written (guaranteed!).

B-SIDES ETC

http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/mp3s/02_dry_rise-cold.mp3 -  COLD was recorded in Outhouse Studios, Reading on January 8th 2005, in the new line-up, and was written only a week before! Already a favourite live track, we hope you enjoy it!!! Its rather Kerbdog-esque, upbeat but dark.

http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/mp3s/dry_rise-my_advice.mp3 - MY ADVICE (demo) was recorded in late 2004 in a transient lineup. We had to rush the song somewhat and never really done it the justice it deserved, but its still good quality for time spent on it! The drumming is quite different than the rest of the Dry Rise material due to the temporary addition of Jon Hammond who was somewhat of a prog drummer.

http://www.suicidenotesmusic.net/dryrise/mp3s/02_dry_rise-shattered.mp3 - SHATTERED was recorded way back in July 2003 as B-side to "The Big I Am". Its our most "ballady" song to date but a rockin' tune nonetheless. This song features the original line-up.


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If your browser just streams the track(s), then right-click on the link and select 'Save target as'... this will download the file to a specified folder on your computer, if thats what you prefer.

[DaveGefow]

get out of that garden!!

[Conor]

Soundgarden (drastically changing the subject matter for the sheer fun of it)!

[Anarcho]

Hey,
For the On The Turn sound you should listen to Copper Blue by Sugar. Pretty much anything by Sugar really I think. It is in fact Battle's favourite album. Fugazi

Copper Blue and FUEL are two very very good albums as is nearly all of Bob Mould's stuff. Fugazi are also pretty great too but I find it a bit difficult to hear the influence of them in Kerbdog :?


For some reason Weezer remind me of Kerbdog, especially their Blue album. Dinosaur Jr. are another band that I can kidn of make out slight influences from...

[goatboy]

I love a bit of Sugar myself. Copper Blue really is fantastic.

I've heard many people say the On the Turn sounds really like Helmet but I haven't heard enough myself to say whether this is true or not.

[mexicanwaver]

Yeah, Copper Blue is a fantastic album! Yet so under-rated and unknown. I remember the first time I heard it in the mid-90s (having not heard Bob Mould or Sugar before) and I thought the vocals were REALLY weird! I wasn't too sure about the nasally vocal style that Bob Mould seemed to have.....so it took a while to grow on me. I think this would probably put a lot of people off. But by persevering with the album, I suddenly appreciated the genius of the man and was hooked!

I think Kerbdog also had the same 'problem' in that Cormac has a very unique vocal style, which could put a lot of people off. I remember playing some Kerbdog stuff to friends at school (back in the day!) and some of them were like "Hey, cool song. But who the hell's this guy? He can't sing!". I personally love his voice, but I can also see why some people wouldn't like it.

I'm a big Helmet fan and I think the only similarity between Kerbdog/Helmet is in some of the stop-start/chunky guitar playing and the pounding drums.

Otherwise, the vocals and structure of the songs/lyrics are totally different......On The Turn is a lot more of a pop-rock sounding album (in comparison to Helmet's stuff anyway).

[Kerbpuppy]

Not that they sound anything like Kerbdog really... But a band that I am equally obsessed with is Shihad from New Zealand. Their album Killjoy imparticular. Do yourself a favour and check 'em out. Although they don't have a European distribution deal, you can find their albums on ebay all the time. Killoy and the self titled, or 'fish' album are the best 2, but all of them are good. Their last 2 offerings were produced by GGGarth too, the guy that did On the Turn...

[Ash]

There's a band on MySpace that have listed Kerbdog as a main influence. I've known about them for a while, and when I saw they'd listed Kerbdog as an influence I thought "I've never associated those two, but now you mention it..." I think they're every bit as good as Kerbdog, and better than the usual Kerbdog-a-likes such as Prong and Tool. The band is called Phema. Their website (which you can stream 4 songs from) is www.phema.co.uk and the MySpace page (which you can get 2 songs from) is www.myspace.com/phema
Enjoy

Edit: Seems like they've split up, like so many great rock bands...

[END OF GREEN]

I'm well into a and called Kids Near Water cos i think they have a very Kerbesque sound.Check em out lads.