If you've followed the evolving career of Police Dog Hogan you know what you're getting: a multi instrumentally driven concoction of rhythmically pleasing tunes landing on the listener with little pretence. For their fifth album, the blueprint driving an evolution that has widened their appeal is in tact to the extent of perhaps edging OVERGROUND into the realm of being the band's most accomplished release to date. Slightly random yet totally realistic, this twelve strong collection of songs springs from a multitude of stories, tales, anecdotes and personal musings. The authenticity gels to generate one play insufficient and even a dozen more enticing you to return to a record that kicks off a new year in grand style.
Police Dog Hogan is a seven piece band fronted by main vocalist James Studholme, but are defined by the sum of the parts that range from a stringed repertoire through to frequent brass. UK Americana has tended to house them partly due a waif and stray demeanour, but a fertile appeal stretches the band's reach from straight up roots to a mainstream broad brush. Where Police Dog Hogan ply their trade smiling faces are certain to appear, and this has tended to major in a live setting with the upbeat persona cue to a good night out.
Until live music kicks back into some kind of normality, perpetual spins of OVERGROUND will feed an appetite for reminiscing. Right from the vibrant strains of opening track 'Hold On' you sense the guys and gal are on rousing form and three-quarters of an hour or so later you have embraced the true essence of Police Dog Hogan. This means an undulating journey ending with the band nursing that end of night drink, or penultimately enquiring if there is 'Room in That Bottle'.
The opening salvo is one of a handful of tracks selected to preview the album and represents the band in rousing form. However the run up hasn't all been about the upbeat as exemplified in the creatively entertaining and thoughtful 'Funfair on Shepherd's Bush Green' released as one of the singles, or promotional pieces in the digital age.
'Westward Ho!' is another quirk of carrying over the title track from a previous album. Maybe unique to Police Dog Hogan but what is dealt here is a full bodied anthem escalating periodically to convey a brash bout of nostalgia. Pop sensibilities infiltrate the band's sound from time to time and plenty of 'whoahs' do the job here and also the subsequent track 'Might As Well Be'.
On an occasion where Studholme steps aside from the vocals, 'Barcelona' emerges as a pure ear worm number. Born from a slice of deluded fantasy and simple play on words, it showcases the fun side to the band by taking the rhyming agenda to new places. Once listened to never forgotten.
'Here Comes Crow' is one of the record's more stripped down offerings and is inspired by a back to nature lockdown experience. Also on a more placid terrain is the mid tempo piece 'Disappear' and the observational number 'I Need Your Love'.
Police Dog Hogan have been hailed as a homegrown treasure and you sense fully immersed in the suburban soul of a curious England peering out of a window onto the quirks of life. OVERGROUND lives up to the analogy of the title and is an explicitly open album sharing the wares of a band not overt about shielding the contents of what they have to offer. Engaging in this record is a refreshing experience to lengthen the short days of its mid January release.