By their own admission, it took Pursued by Dogs several years to strike the right balance between indie music and a more dance-oriented, beat-driven sound. Unfortunately for the Dublin four-piece, their debut album suggests that there is more work to be done in that respect.
Originally forming in 2010, they added female vocalist and keyboardist Suzanne Purcell to their line-up in 2016 and this certainly enhanced their sound – yet among these 10 tracks, at least, she is seriously underutilised.
The main problem, despite the clunky electronics and pedestrian, face-covering lyrics such as “The light I see in your eyes/Not dead from all these highs”, is that frontman Andrew Brennan’s angsty, overwrought voice is ill-suited to a soundtrack laden with so many effects and so much going on besides the melody.
Purcell's softer vocal, on the other hand, tempers the cumbersome beats of Talk and Iceland, making both infinitely more understated and subsequently, more palatable. They're two of the only songs to make an impression amid the homogeny of dated, 1990s-era dance-pop.
Despite the band's best intentions and their undeniable effort in making something unique, this is largely forgettable stuff. Pursuedbydogs.com
Download: Talk, Iceland
