Dog House Music [Digipak] - Seasick Steve > Reviews > Dog House Boogie - Seasick Steve

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Very different
Disadvantages:	Too different?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This is one of the latest CDs that i have bought, to add to my very small, but very diverse, collection of music. (One of the other recent additions being the "Back to the Old Skool" Garage CD.

The sound of seasick steve could not be further away from this if he tried. With most of his songs being played on a 3 string guitar. There is a lot of deep south country music influencing the sound. However it is also extremely unique. I have never head anything like it, and probably never will hear anything like it either.

I must admit though it definitely would not be for everyones tastes. I would advise looking on youtube at a couple of live performances. I first saw him on Later with Jools Holland, a few weeks ago. I thought he was amazing straight away, and very talented. I do think you have to see him perform to gain the full appreciation of his talents.

The album is quite cheap and i got mine for roughly £7.20 from HMV with my student discount. Originally £7.95 i think. You can get it from a variety of stores and most music stores will be stocking it because of his recent performance on BBC2. When i bought mine i was told that it is quite popular at the moment. As the other review on the product says - he also saw the performance on Jools Holland

The Tracks -
13 altogether, and admittedly, some are better than others. But this is the same with any album. My favourite being Cut My Wings, Dog House Boogie, Hobo Low and My Donny (the track i saw performed on Jools Holland)

The songs are very hard to describe and have a very alternative country sound and this comes through very strong in every single track on the album.

Each track is heavily based around the guitar and vocal performance of Seasick Steve. With many of the songs sounding like they have a Blues influence, which i believe he does have. And has played for many years. The main track that illustrates this is Hobo Low - "There aint no lower than a hobo low"

Overall though, throughout the duration of the album, there is a lot of variation. All being very different from each other, and each unique in their own way.

The album artwork is very simple but looks good, and this theme keeps in line with what the style of music it is. I like the picture on the front cover. A small dog kennel made from broken lolly sticks and things.

If you are interested in new music that is aside from the mainstream then i would advise looking into this CD. It is very different and strong and i wouldn't advise listening to it all the time as it can become quite grinding. But as something to listen to now and again, or something to show your friends i would definitely recommend it.