Top Dog - S/T EP

Rebellion Records

 

The British invasion seems unstoppable at the moment at Rebellion Records! After debuting Crown Court and Last Crusade earlier this year and Hateful and Bottlejob in the early days of the label, another British release is lurking around the corner along with the B Squadron EP. I am talking about Carlisle’s Oi!’sters Top Dog!

 

Although the band’s debut EP’s will be released in the same month on the same label, Top Dog’s sound is quite different. Sure, vocalist Ste also has a (great) barking, vicious voice as well, but musically Top Dog’s sound has much more pace to it, that makes the band lean more on the streetpunk side of the fence. Especially on the ‘ultra-violent’ B-side, with the tracks “Clockwork Warrior” and “Violence”, they gear up a notch or two, just to make sure the songs will put their money where their mouth is and that there will be blood on the dancefloor!

 

With the more mid-tempo, sing-alongs “Welcome To My World” and the banging “Botchergate” (my absolute favorite), Top Dog brings a nice variety in their sound and they do that without sounding like two totally different bands on each side of the wax, making it a great first effort by these Cumbria top boys!