TVfordogs – Roller / 2005 Wampus / 11 Tracks / http://www.tvfordogs.com / http://www.wampus.com / Reviewed 18 December 2005

Hints of Pearl Jam and other sludgy acts make their appearance during Tvfordogs’ title track on “Roller”. The resulting song is pretty catchy, with enough of the harmony from “Hunger Strike” being nicked to have one consider where exactly Tvfordogs got their influences. In fact, it is not just “Hunger Strike” that gives the band the most push but the guitar work on the track also brings comparisons to The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight”. At forty five minutes, the disc is a tremendous beast that will floor many individuals that wish to finish it.

The sedate style that dominates through most of the disc will provide a high bar for individuals to surpass if they want to enjoy the disc. The songs are all couched in a very radio-friendly style but there is little in the way of material here that could conceivably be transferred to radio or music video channels. The drone rock present in a track like “Monolith” verifies the title of the track, but the repetition of the sound is over the top; individuals will grow weary of this arrangement well before the near-six minute endtime of the track occurs. Even though the follow-up track to “Monolith”, “100x” is over two and a half minutes shorter than its predecessor, the anemic tempo of the track and the title quality of the arrangement (that is to say, it is repeated 100x) really challenge listeners to continue on this disc. After quite a few strikes, there is a minor redemption of the band’s sound with “Drive”.

In this, there is a careful monitoring of the repetition used by TVfordogs and a careful cultivation of the vocals, a move which leads to a “Californication”-like rock track. The band seems to actually make a sustained recovery during their “Where Is Your God?”, in that the repetition and other pitfalls that hamstrung TVfordogs in the first half of the CD has largely been removed by this track. “Roller” is the perfect example of an album that has its faults but does not dwell in them. TVfordogs may show themselves as ultimately being human, but the times when they do succeed on this album is nearly enough to make up for these momentary lapses. Here’s to hoping that the next album released by TVfordogs is more like the second half of “Roller”, as if this does happen, TVfordogs will be one of the better plain “rock” bands.

Top Tracks: Be Careful, Drive

Rating: 3.9/10

[JMcQ]