A Dog's Eye View

Yet another garagey neo-punk group signed to the Swedish indie Burning Heart (former home of the Hives, the Satanic Surfers, and others), Gundog at least come by their U.K. street punk sound -- not to mention mono-named singer Brian's thick London accent -- honestly, being the label's first British signing. An unapologetic throwback to the days of the Angelic Upstarts, Peter & the Test Tube Babies, and the rest of the late-'70s/early-'80s U.K. street punk/Oi! scene, A Dog's Eye View runs through 12 unpretentious three-chord punk tunes (plus a hidden bonus track) in not much over half an hour. It's mostly all ramalama guitar and shouty vocals, but after a couple of listens, one notices the surprising seriousness of songs like the anti-pedophilia "Sex Case." Even the charmingly titled "Smelly Cunt" turns out to be, of all things, an anti-pornography rant. The big surprise is the uncannily Ian Dury-like closer, "Our Mates," a piano-based jazz-punk corker that sounds so much like a tribute to the Essex-born wideboy master that it must have been intended as such. Gundog broke up shortly after this release, most of the band evolving into the female-fronted street punks Deadline. ~ Stewart Mason