Dog Day — Elder Schoolhouse

Dog Day are getting noticeably better with every record they make.

The three songs that constitute side A of this 12-inch — "Ritual," "Dark Day" (written specifically for the band by producer Rick White) and "Concentration" — are among the best they've recorded. It would be easy to credit White with this victory, but it's just as likely that he happened to come along right when Dog Day were hitting a creative peak.

The album's closing track, "New Beginning," is a walk on the wild side by this four-piece's standards. It clocks in at 12 minutes, the last 10 of which are a wash of distortion and feedback, but it's obvious it wasn't a haphazard creation.

Here's a fun experiment: Listen to "New Beginning" with headphones on in a quiet room. Remove those headphones when the song finishes, and for about five minutes, your ears will be filled with a gurgling sound that'll make you feel like you're underwater. Trippy stuff, this.

Elder Schoolhouse is vinyl-only and limited to 400 copies — best get your hands on one quickly.