Sounds From The Junkshop #13 - Kerbdog

 

“Hello I’m the same boy, the one you left behind...” - Kerbdog, Mexican Wave, 1996

There's always some bands you end up becoming a fan of after seeing them so many times supporting bands that you like that you kind of end up getting into them via osmosis almost. As I've mentioned on previous entries on here, 1993-94 saw my music tastes starting to get a bit heavier as I discovered Therapy?, Terrorvision, the Almighty's Crank album and the Wildhearts in quick succession. As this was the era where I was finally starting to look grown up to sneak into gigs here and there, it was these bands who I would pretty much cut my teeth to when it came to attending gigs.

And just as the four aforementioned represented the "Big Four" of Britrock, there were a number of other bands bubbling underneath who would often be the support bands at these gigs and who I therefore also saw quite often in this era and became a fan of. The main two were Glasgow's Baby Chaos (still very much out there and gigging today and with a rather awesome new album out which we reviewed on this blog a little while back) and Kilkenny's Kerbdog.

I think I first became aware of Kerbdog in early '94 when they supported Therapy? (who I was pretty rabid about at the time) on a couple of tours. Although it would be another year before I'd catch Andy Cairns and co live on the opening night of the Infernal Love tour, I also remember hearing their second single Dry Riser on a rock compilation around this time and being sufficiently intrigued. It had a brutal riff underpinning it but enough of a sense of melody to carry it through. Now, if this was the adult me listening, I'd instantly say that Kerbdog pretty much timed their entry on to the scene perfectly as they basically sounded like '80s Metallica just at the time when Hetfield and co were starting to smooth off their rough edges and alienate their old-skool fanbase. Even if it didn't look likely to take them on to conquer the charts, it looked a safe bet to get them a cult following and some minor chart success (which, of course, it did). Of course, as a 15-year-old, I only really knew about the Black Album era Metallica so couldn't draw that conclusion - truth is I just liked angry songs with good riffs in that era so this one was a no-brainer really.

The group's third single Dummycrusher carried on the progress nicely and even earned the band their one and only Top 40 hit. Much faster and punkier than its predecessor with a big gang-chant chorus about sectarian violence in the group's native Ireland, it looked as though it would be their breakthrough to the big time and was enough to persuade me to give the band's self-titled debut a spin. Even now, it still sounds like a good effort with the skull crushing riffs of End Of Green, Dead Anyway and Scram being underpinned by the band's good knack with a chorus and a hook. They were a good live band as well on the few times I saw them live with an impressive charisma for such a young band (they were all still in their teens when the album came out) especially frontman Cormac Battle. Bright things seemed to be on the horizon.

It would be late '96 before the group would resurface with their second album On The Turn and unfortunately the recording sessions were fraught with difficulty. The sudden rise to success had taken its toll on guitarist Billy Dalton who quit to leave Cormac, bassist Colin Fennelly and drummer Darragh Butler to soldier on as a three-piece leading to a bit of a change in sound and the band going more melodic. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a curate's egg to these ears - when it works such as on the two singles Sally and Mexican Wave or when they return to their thrash roots such as on the title track, they come up with some good stuff. Unfortunately, a lot of it kind of falls between two stools and to my ears it just sounds a bit disjointed a lot of the time. It started to get a reputation as a bit of a "lost classic" a few years later when emo bands such as Hundred Reasons and Million Dead started citing it as an influence. Make of that what you will - personally I think it has its moments but I much prefer the band's debut.

Although it did slightly better than its predecessor, On The Turn still performed poorly and crucially all three of its singles missed the Top 40. The group were dropped by their label and it seemed that was that. However, although they lost Fennelly (replaced by Mick Murphy) they weren't finished - changing their name to Wilt they managed to sign a deal with Mushroom (who also had the Wildhearts on the books at the time) and ended up coming up with one of the surprise comeback triumphs of the millennium.

I think I first heard Wilt's comeback single It's All Over Now on the Steve Lamacq radio show while I was a student and I'll admit it really knocked me for six. If On The Turn had kind of been the group's chrysalis album then this was them emerging as tuneful melodic rock butterflies on the other side with a chorus and a hook to floor you allied to some thoughtful lyrics (apparently about Cormac's girlfriend having a pregnancy scare). It seemed as if the group had well and truly taken their sound and refined it to good effect.

The group's Bastinado album would surface that spring and would be on my CD player a lot for the rest of the year. To use a Bob Mould analogy (the group were big Husker Du fans), if Kerbdog's first album was their Zen Arcade and On The Turn was their Warehouse Songs And Stories then Bastinado was their Copper Blue with the tunes pushed front and centre and the group's knack with a great hook and riff allied to some great lyrics that seemed to sum up a lot of my life experiences at the time - being dragged to clubs you don't really want to go to (Radio Disco), hangovers from hell (No Worries) and trying to get a handle on relationships in your early twenties (Open Arms, Goodnight, Never A Friend) and picking yourself up when life knocks you to the floor (Moving On). I played the singles non-stop on my show on student radio and pretty much urged all my friends to buy it as well as going to see them a few times in both Stoke and Leeds that year (they were still a great live band and Cormac's self-deprecating humour always made them an enjoyable band to watch). I know that 2000 isn't exactly regarded as a great year for music but Wilt really did seem like the diamonds among a lot of the dust that comprised the music scene at the time.

Unfortunately, much as Kerbdog's first album did, while Bastinado earned the group a healthy underground following, it didn't bring them chart success - Radio Disco turned out to be the group's biggest hit, just missing the Top 50. By the time of their follow-up, 2002's My Medicine (the group re-expanding to a four-piece with guitarist Darren Dempsey joining), the music scene had shifted around them with the rise of groups like the Strokes on the indie side and the emo scene coming up on the heavier side. Given that Cormac and co had already dipped a toe in these waters in Kerbdog's dying days, it's perhaps not a surprise that they chose to go back down this route again.

And, unfortunately, just as On The Turn had been, it was a bit of a disappointment with the group trying to aim for being more thought-provoking but kind of losing the killer tunes that had made Bastinado such a great album in the process. Second single Distortion was good and Dave, You Were Right was a great mournful reflection on lost youth which I kind of gravitated to (I was 23, fresh out of Uni and coming to the slightly terrifying realisation that I hadn't made any plans as to what I wanted to do with my life going forward leading to me taking a series of office temp jobs and not really knowing how to get out of the cycle and finally start putting some roots down and earning something above the minimum wage). Unfortunately a lot of the rest of it was just forgettable and both it and the singles from it sunk without trace. Dropped by Mushroom, the band would finally break up in early 2003.

Kerbdog would reform with their original line-up in 2012 and still gig to this day although new material hasn't been forthcoming apart from a live album Congregation in 2014. I very nearly saw them at the Sonisphere festival at Knebworth that year but unfortunately finances only stretched to a one-day ticket so I opted for the day when Iron Maiden, the Eureka Machines, the Yo-Yo's and Frank Turner were playing instead. I was also too slow off the mark buying a ticket for their London show that year due to it selling out before my payday so it was doubly frustrating. Hopefully they'll be back over here for some shows at some point - it'd be good to see them again after all this time. In terms of new material, I'm kind of hesitant as I'm not sure if it'd be the tuneful thrash of old, the more melodic sound of Bastinado or the emo tendencies of On The Turn and My Medicine. It'd be interesting to find out though. Anyway, there's pretty much something for everyone in the four Kerbdog/Wilt albums so track down according to your taste and enjoy the great almost-weres of Britrock.