Album Review: The Sheepdogs - The Sheepdogs

You take one look at Canadian rockers The Sheepdogs in all their shaggy-haired, bearded glory and it should come as no surprise that their self-titled fourth release harks back to the '70s in a big way. Laid Back is an interesting starting point; instead of kicking off with a really powerful rock'n'roll sound, in keeping with the title, this track just casually eases you into the album. It's a little too repetitive toward the end though; there really is only so many times you need to hear the words “Laid back” repeated on a paltry three minute track. We get the idea.

Feeling Good, however, would have been a much better choice of opener – it starts off powerfully, the beat is hypnotic and it gets your head nodding along; it's classic rock'n'roll and a top track. Alright OK proves that repetitiveness is a bit of a theme on this album, but Never Gonna Get My Love offers up another highlight – the chorus is great and the backing vocals elevate this track to a whole new level. Ewan's Blues throws in a touch of soul – it's a different sound to the previous tracks, there's a lot more substance and the vocals are really bluesy which carries over really nicely into The Way It Is.

Javelina! is super groovy and acts as a bit of an interlude between the first six tracks and the final seven, but sadly it's all a bit hit-and-miss from here out. None of the closing tracks are bad, but they're definitely less captivating. This genre of music often lends itself to really lengthy, drawn-out tracks so you can appreciate that they've decided to keep them all short and sweet, albeit a little repetitive, and just easy to listen to. All things considered, it's a good album and starts off so well, it's just a shame that it peters out toward the end.