2014-03-02
If the lyrics on this album are at all autobiographical, then Ron Pope doesn't have much luck with the ladies as each song on Calling Off The Dogs deals with the loss and lamentation of relationships (or different stages of the same one).
Poppy harmonies on the opening tracks Lick My Wounds and Empty Page transport the listener back to the 80's and trivialize the depth of the album's lyrical content. However Pope - born 1983 and raised in the Atlanta, GA suburb of Marietta - demonstrates more mature songwriting on the orchestral Push Me Away and Back to Bed, a Midwest tale of loss which even an electronic clap track fails to spoil.
Ron Pope manages to at times both delight and depress with this moody collection of songs which will appeal to fans of Jason Mraz and John Wesley.
Stand-out tracks: Push Me Away (6), Back to Bed (9)
ROCCO DELUCA & THE BURDEN
I Trust You To Kill Me
THE REAL TUESDAY WELD
The London Book of the Dead
MATES OF STATE
Re-Arrange Us
BOB MOULD
District Line
DAVID BAZAN
Curse Your Branches
WASHED OUT
Within and Without
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