Golden Dogs "Unsane" Album

03/17/09 2:40pm

by Scott Bryson (CHARTattack)

The Golden Dogs went into hibernation last October, after two years of touring in support of their Big Eye Little Eye disc.

They've never been the sort of band that does things on a small scale, so when they decided the time was right for their reappearance, they booked a four night residency at Toronto's Dakota Tavern.

Tthe once-a-week February shows were a success on all counts, according to singer/guitarist Dave Azzolini.

"The Gods, Dogs And Firelogs residency was our first real residency," he says. "I had fun.

"We had our friends from the great band Zeus filling in on bass and guitar, which meant that we got to be a five-piece again for the first time in almost a year. I missed having the second guitar parts in the live mix. It was very satisfying.

"Mostly, it was just great to see people coming out week after week and filling up the little place. I felt bad for those people who had to wait outside in the freezing cold, but that's the nature of these kinds of things.

"We hope to do another residency at The Magpie on Dundas Street in the summer, as we get our lineup solidified and we get closer to the release of the new album."

That new album doesn't have a name yet, and Azzolini is reluctant to provide a street date. He only says it will be finished when the Dogs feel they've made the best record they possibly can.

"The writing and the performances are already better than the last album," he says, "and the excitement in the studio is coming through in the recordings.

"Jess [Grassia, keyboards] is coming more and more to the main vocal side of things and she's sounding incredible. Taylor's [Knox] drumming is insane. It's so insane that it's unsane.

"Furthermore, there are no metronomes anywhere in sight, which means tempos do fluctuate during a lot of the songs, but they do so in a good way. There's a loose tightness in the arrangements, which doesn't make sense unless you actually hear the stuff.

"So far it's the greatest time I've personally ever had playing music."

The Golden Dogs are making their way down to Texas this week for the South By Southwest festival. Here's where you can catch them:

Mar. 17 Austin, TX @ Friends (SXSW)
Mar. 19 Austin, TX @ Threadgills (SXSW)
Mar. 20 Austin, TX @ Friends (SXSW)
Mar. 21 Austin, TX @ El Sol Y La Luna (SXSW)