Album Review: Homosexual Dog: The Pope's Tattoos

A lot's happened in the music world, as well as the actual world, since Homosexual Dog regaled us with their previous long-player, 2003's 'I Turned Into An Owl'. But none of it's been worth reporting, so I shan't be going into them here. 

But, thank Christ, we can forget about those last, lost eight years because Homosexual Dog have returned to slap us out of our slack-jawed torpor. But, I hear you cry, can they possibly live up to this unrealistic expectation? Well the answer to that is: yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, what, why, no, oh, look, perhaps, shush. I have also taken a closer look at the record. I stood with the record while standing on the shoulders of my close friend Ingrid Smooth under a naked, swinging light bulb. Added to the fact that I have also listened to the record in full, at a moderate-to-low volume, I felt I was in quite the position to review the album track by track by track by track by track by track.

Which is what I've done...

Side One

 

1. Man In Tall Hat Smiles 

Based on the 1903 film of the same name by cinema pioneer Alan 'T-Bone' Horsewind, this opens the album in suitably grand fashion. Like a psych-prog Brother Beyond. Nice.

2. Passing Time In 21st Century Austria

A low-key banjo opens the track before all hell breaks loose and singer Keeky Delbrannon intones the cryptic lyric 'I had you in the filing cabinet/I posted your letter/I made your sick pet duck smile' 563 times. Troubling.

3. The Pope's Tatoos

The title track features the first of the album's guest vocalists. A return to Joe Longthorne's edgier work. Unlistenable.

4. The Man Who Stole Kennedy's Brain

Who could forget hearing this song during the Dogs's comeback gig at the Horse and Flipchart earlier this year? Certainly not this writer, who cried like a bastard during the 26-minute wind sound effect coda, mercifully halved on record. Features a recording of Ian Woodyatt ringing for a pizza. Danceable. 

5. Jūs arklys žiūri į mane įtartinai

Performed with the Lithuanian skiffle group The Ha! Best described as interesting. Interesting.

6. Banging On About Foreign Holidays
A minute and half of pure punk hostility. This is apparently the song on which singer Keeky Delbrannon screamed so loud his voice fell out.

Side Two 

1. Lunar Regalia
The Dogs have often flirted with prog rock in the past but here they fully embrace the genre with this stunning 24-minute piece. Coming on like a cross between Pink Floyd, King Crimson and the Blather Blather Blather Blather Blather Blather Blather Blather Band, Lunar Regalia is a paean to post-millennium angst, some eleven years after the event. This needs to be listened to to fully appreciate the granduer and brilliance at work here. Any attempt to explain it in print would be a folly. And in any case, I can't be bothered.

2. Opening Up Your Defences
The album closes with this two minute instrumental track. Featuring guest vocals from Kate Humble.

A version of this review appeared on an earlier version of this blog.