Album Review: Ferocious Dog - "The Hope"
Mainstays on the folk punk circuit in recent years, this is the fifth album from Ferocious Dog and if I'm honest I was a little bit underwhelmed by their previous effort, 2019's Fake News And Propaganda. So it feels a bit like there's an element of "put up or shut up" with this new release.
As it turned out, I needn't have worried - The Hope might actually be the band's strongest album to date. There's a real energy to these tunes which seems to have ignited a bit of a spark that was there intermittently before. Similar to the Levellers, who they've gigged with quite a bit in the past, it's a heartfelt honesty and passion powering the songs along here right from the moment the intro of Port Isaac blasts into the barrelling sea shanty Haul Away Joe and the political anger of Pentrich Rising.
There's a good mixture of light and shade in here from the mournful acoustics of the title track and 1914 to the angry tirades about homelessness (Born Under Punches), the lack of support for PTSD suffering veterans (Broken Soldier) and even humourless scenesters ruining gigs for everyone else (Punk Police). They even team up with Hazel O'Connor to give a folk reworking to her old hit Will You? to good effect. It's good varied stuff which should appeal to plenty even outside the group's folk-punk fanbase.
The Hope represents a big step forward for Ferocious Dog - it's arguably their most fully realised and varied album so far and is well worth your time and investigation. Definitely one of the best efforts I've heard in these pages over the last few months.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)
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