CRACKING REVIEW OF 'THE CAT THAT SOLVED THE STRING THEORY'

THE CAT THAT SOLVED THE STRING THEORY 

(AND OTHER STORIES)

I recently acquired the UK limited edition CD as a present for my wife who, on listening to it, demanded to know how she could not have heard of him before when he had such a wonderful voice. Hopefully, this new album will ensure fewer people are faced with this question in future.

The author of this beautiful album, Dogman Dave (aka Dr David Sands) is, for me, a musical bridge between folk and rock music. His vocals are often favourably compared to those of Neil Young, though I think they are less reedy and nasal than Mr Young’s. With the strength and clarity of his voice you wouldn’t be surprised to hear him knocking out a folk classic or two, but in this album the tracks are all his own creations. They range from the gentle and romantic “Valentine Light” to the more rocking “Wolves of Winter Hill”. His lyrics, flowing mostly from his own life experiences and beliefs, sometimes carry a message, such as in “Earth Plc”, but are never formulaic. In “Spitfire” he uses the clever allegory of a World War 2 dogfight to describe the sometimes combative nature of personal relationships – but it is written with a loving, rather than bitter, feel.

His fellow musicians in this enterprise, Matt Pawson, Andy Penney and Mr Smith (who also produces) do these songs great justice and the recording quality is beautifully clear and rich.

One of the outstanding tracks on this album for me is “It’s a Love Thing”. I would defy anyone listening to this track not to find their toes tapping and their spirits lifting by the end of it. Not even Monty Burns, that notorious old curmudgeon of “The Simpsons” fame, could resist the uplifting feel of this track. Load this into your MP3 and play on the way to work and your day will surely be improved.

WE KNOW HOW IT ENDS - DOGMAN'S HAPPY TUNE

We know how it ends (Let’s make a film of our lives)

Dogman explains how the happiest song from his new album turned into a fun studio session

“Camera’s rolling - come on friends

Lights - action - we know how it ends!”

So starts this popular Dogman song, appropriately, the last main track on the Dogman album ‘The Cat that solved The String Theory’ has attracted many ‘happy track’ comments on Soundcloud. The banjo introduction was first brought into the arrangement in a Dogman-Mikans (The Crossbreed) demo when Mikans suggested a Sufjan Stevens feel to the song.

The song is again about Dogman’s love affair with his wife, “ You be Bergman I’ll be Tarantino,”  and playfully singing, “Who plays me - who plays you and who rescues who?”

Martyn (studio producer) kept a small camera rolling throughout the various booth recordings and for the group-singing for the chorus, “Let’s make a film of - our lives - we can dream it in colour - or dream it in black and white. Let’s make a film - of our lives.  First love, Happy - Tears - it’s our lives!”  The cast are listed in the video [http://youtu.be/jvZvX1vawuY]. 

It is Matt Pawson, ace guitarist in the Dogman, who shouts ‘It’s a wrap!’ at the end of recording.