Dogs. Steve French

Who is who in alternative Amsterdam rock? You tell me. It all depends on who is singing and who is the main writer in the band. In Steve French it is Cees Paris but you will find most of his Canshaker Pi or Private Trainer and Banker mates in their as well, in a serving role.

With 'Lightning Tiger Running' Steve French sort of blazed itself through my speakers. Two years later it's almost as if a different band presents itself. Dogs certainly is an alternative pop-rock album with all the estranging notes and sounds that come with the music so many bands in Amsterdam are excellent in. Dogs is also a relaxed affair. Not that I will call this ballads but it is not that far off. The mid-tempo songs are sort of rippling along until a stone is thrown into the calm water or a boat comes by.

Steve French either stands on the bank of the pond to throw the stone or hires a boat to start rocking with it ('Solid Days' especially). It gives Dogs a few different vibes. All the songs are on the alternative side of pop and rock music. That's the starting point of the album. From there different paths lead to different end results. Memories of Canshaker Pi fly by, just like memories of  'Sunday Morning' or 'Candy Says'.

Cees Paris, the leader and principle songwriter of Steve French, hides his voice a little. It always sounds a bit muffled and as of coming from another room. The music itself is also somewhere between a demo lo-fi sound and a studio. The latter is in the clear sound of the great alternative pop song 'Country Blues Dilettante'. Where album opener, 'Absolute Beginnings', is more in line with the former part of the sound on Dogs. The contrast with 'Solid Days' can't be bigger in both accounts. This blistering punkrocker is a total surprise like a thunderclap on a bright, blue day.

In Amsterdam a scene has been built that reminds me of Antwerp in the mid 1990s where a lot of people played in each other's bands. Look at the line up of Steve French and you can start making connections straight away. Starting in early November with the release of Private Trainer's debut album.

With Dogs Steve French surprises. It was not the album that I saw coming. With the new album and the different sounds the band convinces though. Dogs is an alternative pop rock album showing the talent of its makers. One foot firmly in the past and one firmly in Amsterdam's alternative rock scene.

Wout de Natris

You can order Dogs on the Excelsior Recordings website:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/products/steve-french-dogs