Lost Dogs - "Old Angel"

Lost Dogs - Old Angel

2010, Fools of the World

1. Israelites & Oakies

2. Dancin' on the Devil's Elbow

3. Turn It Around

4. The Glory Road

5. America's Main Street

6. Traveling Mercies

7. Dust in My Bowl

8. Pearl Moon

9. The World Is Against Us

10. Wicked Guns

11. Goodbye Winslow

12. Desert Flowers

13. Dead End Diner

14. Carry Me

15. Old Angel

In a just world Old Angel would be a high profile release. The Dogs would be on the covers of magazines and you'd be able to run on down to Walmart to get their newest release. Sadly, with the sorry state of the Christian Music Industry, Old Angel, will struggle in obscurity. It's sad because it's probably their finest release to date, but in a way I'm okay with that. Old Angel is way too good for the Christian Music Industry anyway. They would have taken the concept and either destroyed it before it was born or turned it into fluffy feux-evangelistic nonsense. Fans know that this disc is the result of a road trip taken by the Dogs in 2008 in an endeavor to follow the old historic Route 66 for no other reason that it might be fun to do so. The result is fifteen (er... maybe fourteen) finely crafted songs all about that Glory Road.

The band replaces most of the genuine country influences embedded in the Lost Cabin disc with a bit more folk and alt-rock. There aren't any truly "country" songs here which I can't really say hurts my feelings any. "Israelites & Oakies" much like "Broken Like Brooklyn" start the disc on a somewhat quiet, mellow note. Of course it picks up with "Dancin' on the Devil's Elbow" - a folksy romp that showcases Steve Hindalong's saw-playing skills. You heard right - saw playing. Old Angel also includes an arrangement of the Daniel Amos song "The Glory Road" - a song which appeared on the Songs of the Heart disc in which Route 66 played a pretty big part as well. The song sounds a lot better when it's sung as opposed to the talky version of the original. I wasn't too impressed with "America's Main Street" which recalls the rock-a-billy swagger of Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere." The song just didn't work for me with the talking and the sloppy blues riff. It's like the album takes a break from being excellent. Of course we get the beautiful ballad, "Travelling Mercies" afterward so it's all good. "Wicked Guns" is a hard rocker written by Hindalong about Wild Bill Hickock. Other tunes lament the tragedies of those in the Hooverville camp in 1932. My personal favorite is "Dead End Diner." Usually I don't say "monster hook" when talking about the Lost Dogs, but if you don't like that song and find yourself singing it regularly then you, my friend, don't like music.

Now I think I'm going to pay this disc the biggest compliment I can give it. It threatens to replace Little Red Riding Hood as my favorite Dogs disc. And if it doesn't replace it, it's certainly an easy second.

Useless Fact: Both the disc and the DVD were supposed to be released simultaneously but since the DVD isn't ready yet, the band released the album anyway so we all wouldn't lose our minds during the wait. Nice of 'em I think.