Dirtty Dogs is the music project of nineteen year-old Maxwell J. "MeowMixxed" Walsh. He released These Are Violent Times. It is a complete DIY effort that melds a number of different genres. My favorite moments were the jazz inspired ones which often seem to be influenced by big bands. The songs are relatively long compared to a standard pop song.
“Who?” is the opener and starts off innocent enough with digital piano and vocals. I had a real hard time making out the lyrics. On that note he has a unique inflection in his voice. The song opens up with jazzy overtones. It grew on me as it progressed. It’s deceptively catchy. There were a number of unexpected changes which worked in the song’s favor. Up next is “Faith” which is a dissonant avant garde piece. It’s sometimes ugly but can switch emotional shades rather quickly. “What Was Washed Away in the Flood” has a little more of an indie rock feel it. There are some effective orchestral swells and easily is one of his best vocal melodies. He sings, “Witches sink, as innocents float / Looks you should have stayed back on the boat / Up above will pull you from the moat / But they’re just doing it all for your vote.” “Blame” features a more overt singing style. He is dynamic and reminded me a little bit of Stephen Malkmus at times. It’s definitely impressive the amount of ground he covers here. “Automatic Automobiles / 2050” is what you might call the centerpiece. It’s an almost ten-minute song with a lot of different transitions. It goes from slow and jazzy to haunting as well as some other places. “Fog Over the Bridge” is very sparse and arguably the most avant garde sounding piece. There are again some well done transitions such as the one where the full band comes in before the three-minute-mark. There is a whole lot more as the album progresses with songs which are all worthy to be listened to such as “Paper-Thin Heroes,” “Melody Magpie,” “Garrett,” “Goodnight, Melancholy” and “Everyone Is (Birds).” He closes with “Living With the Foxes on Maple Grove” which delivers some solid vocal harmonies. Walsh perhaps packs a little too much into this release. There is a lot of depth and I think eight or nine songs may have worked better for this release. I would also mention that I think the artist should focus on recording quality a little more in the future. It was very difficult to hear most of the lyrics especially with the lo-fi quality. Walsh displays a lot of ambition and willingness to experiment. I think he is onto something here and l Iook forward to his evolution.
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