Barkerhound

Before venturing out to watch the Coventry four piece perform tracks from their debut album, I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of their new release, Friend/Enemy (Delete as Applicable) beforehand.

The most important thing to accentuate about Barkerhound is that they shouldn’t be judged purely on the recording. Barkerhound have the same old fashioned appeal that turned fans onto buying music in the 70s, in that you only bought the album after seeing the band play live, and not before. On hearing the album initially, it would be easy to preconceive the band as nothing more than a pleasant enough indie quartet, with a funky edge, armed with a collection of sparkly pop songs. This is predominantly due to the sound quality on the album being incredibly polished and well produced. The main weakness of the album is its failure to convey the real energy and spirit of the band, which comes to life when they take to the stage.

The opening track of the night came in the form of Yeah, which instantaneously promised that this band was going to be something out of the ordinary. For a four piece, Barkerhound have a really meaty and distinctive resonance, comprising a blend of pulsating drum beats, mesmeric guitar hooks, velvety smooth basslines stunning organ keys and quirky vocals.

Barkerhound’s sound is difficult to pin down to one genre alone because it comprises such an array of musical styles and influences. The blues/funk inspired sound of bands such as Black Crowes and RHCP with elements of gritty guitar rock of bands such as Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Muse and indie undertones reminiscent of Boy Kill Boy and Doves makes the Barkerhound sound easily accessible to a wide audience owing to its sophisticated diversity.

Musically, Barkerhound are as tight as one of Joan Rivers’ facelifts and all four band members are remarkably creative and talented in their musical abilities. The complex changes and breakdowns in their music are breathtaking and inimitable with the unpredictability of where their sound is going to take you next keeping you thrillingly hanging on a rope throughout.

Bad Books, a standout track on the album, was the winner that got the crowd in the spirit and pulled them to the front of the stage. Bad Books’ light hearted comedic lyrical references to arguments between couples merged with a cool, funky swing style melody make it one of Barkerhound’s trademark numbers. Frontman Rog really went to town in the chorus and performed in such an emphatic and animated way, he could give Thom Yorke a serious run for his money.

Other standout tracks from the set included the stunning anthem, The Things that Scare You and heartfelt belter Injuries. The closing track of the set, Fraud was a more swingy and chilled out number, a bizarre choice for the last song, but it worked well with the crowd. As Barkerhound got ready to leave the stage, the audience screamed for an encore, which was then reciprocated with the epic Monster. This is another trademark Barkerhound tune with a dazzling musical arrangement of layers, breakdowns and changes. One particular thing that stood out was the eerie keyboard effects, which worked perfectly with the guitars, drums and bass.

The adorable thing about Barkerhound is that they genuinely love what they do, but are astonishingly modest in realisation that the audience love them too. After Fraud, Rog joked with the crowd “Thanks everyone for coming down and paying £4 to see us. It makes me nervous when people pay”.

Barkerhound are highly likely to become one of the big names in music over the next twelve months, and it’s not difficult to see why. This is a band that has worked hard to craft and perfect their sound and their live performance proves their abilities as passionate and accomplished musicians. After watching them live, you’ll be desperate to get your hands on a copy of the album because they are a band that you will want to see and hear again and again. If Barkerhound aren’t signed within the next year or so, it would be very surprising.

Barkerhound have more dates scheduled throughout the year with a forthcoming tour and their album is available now. For more information, check out www.myspace.com/barkerhound.