Wednesday 7 June 2017

Guide Dog

With a name like Guide Dog, how could Ralph resist checking out their first single I Am The Daddy which is the debut release from their Lovely Domestic Bliss album. The tale (or should that be tail) of Guide Dog is many-fold and intriguing and unfolds thus...

They introduce themselves as "a group of wankers who can't sing and can't play our instruments" which is a bit harsh, as they can obviously do the latter.

Guide Dog are Pete Roberts (vocal/guitar), John Maloney (drums) and Ian Russell (bass). 


Pete and John met in school where they made up half of Robots In The Sky who released a red vinyl double A side single back in 1999 via now defunct Complete Control Records.

Following that they released their first LP as Tetra Splendour on EMI no less at which point Ian Russell joined and the 5-piece People In Planes was formed as they joined New York based label Wind Up Records.

Not all went to plan as a third Wind Up Records release was aborted and Pete move to London where he was involved in forming the first incarnation of Cold Specks, the brainchild of Ladan Hussein and Jim  Anderson. Two years of touring and recording followed during which time the soundscape of Guide Dog was formed.


Still with me? Good...



On returning to Wales after quitting touring to start a family, Pete teamed up with John to flesh out some of the Guide Dog songs into a raw 2-piece garage rock sound with a loop pedal giving a third element to their sound and the arrival of the afore-mentioned Ian Russell bolstering the line-up.

Now we see Guide Dog attacking with a three-pronged synth infused grunginess which is made flesh in the form of their Lovely Domestic Bliss album which was produced by long term collaborator Dan Austin and recorded in three days at Rockfield Studios. It's released on Pete's own label, Hi-Vis Records digitally via all the usual download suspects and on lovely 12" vinyl via their Bandcamp account on July 7th.





Further to that, the first single from the album is released on June 16th via Hi-Vis Records in digital format only and you can have a sneak peek here, or tune in to Ralph's Indie Show on Radio KC Sunday 18th June when we'll be giving I Am The Daddy a spin. Tune in and get your grungy freak on!













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