monoblogue music: “Legends In Their Own Minds” by Sundogs

You almost get two albums for the price of one with this new collection from the Seattle-based duo and friends known as Sundogs: out of twelve songs, about half would feel at home in the jazz-rock fusion landscape most famously populated by Steely Dan and the other half would lie squarely in the somewhat Southern, somewhat country, somewhat guitar-driven frontier of music bordered by the Eagles and Tom Petty. (In fact, to me the opening song Fallen Hero sounded like a Petty outtake except the Heartbreakers didn’t use electric piano like this song does.)

If they had been smart (or if it ever comes out in vinyl or cassette) they’d have done this sort of like G N’ R Lies but instead of live vs. acoustic it would be jazz fusion vs. classic rock. On the jazz side you’d have Snowman, which has a Santana-style opening, Did It Really Happen – sort of the title track as it has the lyrical reference – Castle, and End Of The World to close the side. I would be inclined to slide the instrumental Intro and Sahara as the fourth and fifth songs on that side to even up the sides. Not a perfect fit, but it would work.

I found that lyrically Snowman and Did It Really Happen were a little bit flawed and that Castle and End Of The World seemed quite alike. (In reality they are almost opposite on the album as tracks 2 and 12.) Intro/Sahara is a quite pleasant acoustic track.

And then you have side B, which is the rocker side. We could take that opener Fallen Hero and back it up with the potential singles Alive Tonight and Already Gone. (Yes, the title is the same but it’s not a remake.) Smart people might put those on the chart. Then could come the serious country rock of Hope and ballad Land Of Broken Dreams.

That leaves Johnny, which is an interesting song both lyrically and in its setup – it’s almost like two songs because the story is over about 2/3 of the way through a five-minute flat song, and a sort of funkified country lick shifts into a keyboard bridge. (They repeat the chorus on the outro but most of the last 90 seconds is instrumental.)

It also makes for an interesting video. Can you tell they had fun with green screens?

Someday I’m going to figure out what small town played host to the long motion shot. It’s like Google Maps street view without moving the mouse.

As far as the Sundogs band is concerned, it’s really two guys – guitarist Stan Snow and keyboard player Jed Moffitt. They play on all the tracks, but studio musicians from around the Seattle region fill in the other parts. If I hadn’t read it, though, I wouldn’t have known it by how the album was produced.

It’s a rule of mine, though, that you shouldn’t take my word for it. On this one you can check out their website and listen for yourself. You may find something you like in the vast variety.