Review by Stephen Vanyo
Slaughter Beach, Dog– Welcome
Released: September 30th 2016
Rate: 8.2/10
Slaughter Beach, Dog has just come out with their debut full length “Welcome” which you can purchase now from Lame-O Records. Slaughter Beach, Dog is the side project of Modern Baseball’s Jake Ewald. Previous efforts from Ewald under this moniker include a demo EP called Dawg which he released through his own label Family Dinner. Ewald has always embodied his music with a “Do it Yourself” attitude and this record is no different. Mainly self recorded between tours, this record features a bare-bones production style which allows the warmth of the instruments to permeate throughout the speakers. The album’s thematic content raises concerns of post-grad uncertainty on “Jobs”, to the pains of self-sabotage on “Monsters”. The style of this record is varied as well ranging from post-punk to elements of alt-country.
Ewald revisits several of his past works from the Dawg EP by including “Toronto Mug”, “Mallrat Semi Annual” and “Bed Fest”, all cuts originally from his debut demo. While many of the changes from the past effort to this are sonically more improved, Ewald has added little auxiliary parts to create a more whole effort. The most noticeable difference however is how much more confident in his performance with these songs and it shows. With this new full length, Ewald is ready to step out from his Modern Baseball notoriety and go for it on his own terms. I for one, welcome his arrival.
Purchase “Welcome” digitally here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/welcome/id1144207219