Album Review: Track Dogs - Still at the Music
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The narrative behind the album is Track Dogs 20th anniversary. An achievement in itself coupled with the band releasing over 11 albums and cultivating a trademark sound. Self irony is evident in the title as existing fans will be reassured that a successful formula has only been tinkered not cast aside. STILL AT THE MUSIC with its implied work-in-progress is a dozen-strong collection of tracks delivered with a crisp assertiveness. The album is an antithesis to the grower as it reaches peak appeal in first play without any significant drop off as its durability is tested. Snappy songs and a polished groove cut deep appealing as much to fresh listeners as those fully in tune to an international outlook blending influences from Latino to folk to Americana.
The acclaimed Madrid-based quartet are renowned for a tight instrumental core of guitar, bass, cajon and trumpet. The latter being the most definitive in mid-stride, Over the years sound expansion has utilised banjo, ukulele, mandolin and flugelhorn, and it is this wider horizon that drives the tunes keeping the flame burning brightly in 2026.
The album consists of eight straight up Track Dogs originals written and arranged through a team effort. Three covers add a touch of shine yet possess a glossy Track Dogs coating. The other is an outlier as the band adapt a poem with a musical makeover. The latter is a fishing tale titled ‘Catching Rockies’ and an applied ragtime feel gives it a jaunty presence.
A similar effect comes earlier in the album with one of the originals ‘I’ll Take You Home’. This was one of four initial picks when determining which tracks nudged ahead in early plays. The other standout original is ‘Stomping Ground’ where a memorable intro of claps, stomps and riffs carries the track across a bouncy and infectious couple of minutes. Two covers adding differing dimensions to the playing time are the impish intent in ‘Who Were You Thinking Of?’ where a strong Latino beat infiltrates an old Texas Tornadoes song, and an harmony-laden take on the Steve Young song ‘Seven Bridges Road’ made famous by The Eagles. Folk icon Iain Matthews gets a credit in the latter, one of only a handful of outsiders who help out the core quartet.
The third cover is Thin Lizzy’s ‘The Sun Goes Down’ featuring guest vocalist Peter M. Smith, a track whose mood fits neatly into the closing slot of bringing proceedings to a neat and tidy ending. In contrast, there is no doubt you are in Track Dogs company within a few bars of opening song ‘The Right Side (of History)’ Linchpin trumpet makes an early appearance as a theme of making the right choices and taking control evolves.
Elsewhere, delicate changes of tempo are detected in ‘Mirror / Mirror’ and ‘Scoop’. This pairing are placed together at the centre of the running order. Title piece ‘Still at the Music’ proudly proclaims the band’s tongue-in-cheek ethos in the first half alongside the trusty groover ‘Hardest of Hearts’ embedding the signature sound after the sprightly opening. ‘Don’t Make It Easy’ completes the complement before a couple of heavyweight covers dominate the finale.
Track Dogs albums are a beacon of lucidity forging a sound emitting positive vibes. STILL AT THE MUSIC possess a seamless thread of continuity driven by a successful precedence evidenced by a strong back catalogue and vibrant stage presence. Being synonymous with a good time ethos is not a bad place to position a band.
