Exploring themes of love, relationships, family and domesticity, Dog Tale is the spontaneous new album by York Calling discovery, Tugboat Captain.
By Graeme Smith
Dog Tale was written and recorded in a week in the South London studio run by Tugboat Captain members Josh and Sox. The pair believe that creative things can come from spontaneity, and Dog Tale is their attempt to prove it. Going against the grain seems to be a theme for them. While you can’t go anywhere without hearing a heartbreak anthem nowadays, the new album celebrates domestic bliss.
“I feel like this album is a ‘dog’s tale’ of love, relationships, family and domesticity,” Sox says. “I feel like lyrically, I’ve been honing in on this domestic story for a long time, and I’ve been trying to focus in on this feeling of: what is it like to be me? What does home mean to me and everyone else?”
“The fact that we can honestly say to people that we wrote and recorded an album in a week is really helpful for us as producers to be like, that’s how we want to work on music. I don’t want to work on something until I’ve gone insane from listening to it too many times. To us, novelty and excitement and freshness are very important,” Tugboat Captain’s bassist Josh elaborates.
Dog Tale certainly feels fresh, eschewing over-production for an organic sound that still sounds rich. Production won’t give you a memorable melody, and this album has plenty, whether it’s dreamy opener Nothing Without or the punchy, singalong Keep Me Cool.
Other highlights include the rise and fall folk rock of the album’s title track, the delicately and textured Nothing Embarrassing, the sharpness of Pest Control, the ironic rhythms of Bored, the slow building, cinematic Nicky, the acoustic and meditative Thank God, and barnstorming album closer The Bahamas.
Tugboat Captain’s new album is a warm hug of a record and the perfect introduction to the band. What they’ve managed to pull together in just a week is astounding and belies the swiftness of its creation.
Dog Tale is out now and you can give it a listen below.