Album Review: English Dogs - Mad Punx and English Dogs
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
The history of Grantham’s English Dogs is somewhat confusing, with two versions of the band existing at one stage; one version featuring original drummer, Andrew Pinching, alongside Adie Bailey and Gizz Butt; with another version fronted by the band’s first vocalist, Pete Wakefield. The former opting for a more crossover sound, while the latter stuck closer to their punk roots.
Captain Oi!’s most recent compilation collects the band’s first four releases onto two compact (and probably) shiny discs. Giving a history of one of the scenes overlooked, though no less important and influential, bands.
Disc one is the debut EP Mad Punx & English Dogs, featuring the original line up of Wakefield and Pinching, joined by guitarist Jon Murray and bass player Mark Watson. The six-track was released in 1983 and include two songs – Max (The Millionaire) and Free to Kill - which had been included on the band’s demo the previous year.
Of those tunes, Max is a typical punk tirade, familiar at the time, while Free to Kill demonstrates some of the early fire that would find traction into the Pinching version of the band. The rampaging attack not a million miles removed from Motörhead, in intent if not in raw power.
Elsewhere, Left Me for Dead is pure punk rock, while Driven to Death has a U.K. Subs feel and both Psycho Killer and R.I.P. are both fast and abrasive numbers.
A year later and the band would issue their debut full-length, the brilliantly-titled Invasion of the Porky Men. Listening to its fourteen tracks today, it’s easy to forget how forward thinking this record was for its time.
While World War 2 and Spoils of War are short and snappy, and you’ll find a handful of punk staples in the shape of Your Country and Cranked Up Really High – and a bit of the tongue in check during the King of the Singers intro to Caveman Brain – it’s the remaining nine tunes that make this album essential to the genesis of many of the metal genres we listen to today.
Ghosts of the Past, Carol and Newsflash all have a harshly melodic vibe about them, to the point they conjure the sounds of Bad Religion and the So Cal bands; Mercenary is fast and snotty and Never Die has unmistakeable roots of thrash. The title tune is a slow grinder, Blind Man echoes with a dire warning from the past which needs to be heeded as much, if not more so today, and The Fall of Max is proto speed metal with an early NWOBHM vibe hiding beneath the surface.
It's the chunky guitar and interesting rhythms of Astrophs Waiting that is the highlight of this disc for me, as it shows a band with loads of ideas still waiting in the wings.
Invasion… garnered much praise on its release, but it would see Pete Wakefield departing the band to be replaced by one-time Ultraviolent singer, Ade Bailey, and added Gizz Butt, ex of Destructors and to-be Janus Stark and The Prodigy six-string slinger.
The first fruits of this collaboration make up Disc two, opening with the 1984’s four track EP, To the Ends of the Earth, which finds English Dogs in a far more metallic mood. Ambassador of Fear shows a significant increase in tempo with it, and Survival of the Fittest checking their speed metal credentials against the likes of Venom and Tank. The Chase is On features a killer solo and Incisor takes a turn for the darker vocal without surrendering the furious pace.
A year later and this line up would issue Forward Into the Battle and is judged to have been one of the first true crossover albums of punk and metal, here with a remaster overseen by Gizz.
From the title-track introduction it’s clear this is a distance from the previous album, and the dual guitars are utilised to great effect on shredding solo after shredding solo. Even before those moments, Forward… is awash with metallic riffs and rock-sold rhythms, the opening shots of the US Thrash scene defined by the likes of Nosferatu, Five Days to Death and Ultimate Sacrifice.
Fitting then, that the last time I saw English Dogs in concert was supporting Exodus on the Bay Area legend’s Blood In Blood Out tour in 2015; surprisingly, two of my thrasher friends - who were icy about a punk band playing that night – left the venue clutching copies of ED’s The Thing With Two Heads album.
There are some just plain Heavy Metal moments here, as on the mid-section of He That Is Bound Shall Be Freed, the whole of closer Brainstorm and diluting the thrashing urges of Ordeal By Fire.
The longer song structures give English Dogs more scope, as on The Final Conquest, which finds Jon and Gizz’s guitars howling discordantly, and Bailey’s vocals low and gruff, all combined in a lengthier structure.
But the band will always be a punk act at heart and the blending of their roots with the new sound can be heard most clearly on False Prophet’s stomping charge, but is mixed to perfection on Wall of Steel.
At the time, all these releases found some measure of chart success and listening back to them today is obvious these canines weren’t willing to tread familiar paths. No matter what you’re preference is, this collection will have something for you and the rest should be considered hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.
