Album review: Pledge – A Tribute to Kerbdog (various artists)

Phil Rhodes of Stressed Sumo Records reckons that Kerbdog are one of the most underrated bands ever, and I’m inclined to agree. By the time I’d been turned on to On The Turn (arf!), their excellent second album, they’d already split under the pressure of poor sales caused by lost momentum. The music biz has always been something of a lottery, and Kerbdog’s luck was not in proportion to their talent; their true legacy is best assessed by the number of other artists who list them as an influence.

Some of those artists appear on Pledge: A Tribute To Kerbdog, a covers compilation that Rhodes hopes will shine a light on a dearly-loved (if little-known) band. Now, I’ll freely admit to not being seated on the bleeding edge of British underground alternative music (would that I had more time to invest in becoming so!), but most of the artists here are probably less well-known than Kerbdog themselves, and the ones I do recognise are hardly household names. Frank Turner is probably the star at the top of the tree, and it’s nice to see Jamie Lenman (frontman of equally-underrated and prematurely-defunct peripatetic UK popcore geniuses Reuben) cropping up on a table of contents, although Dave “InMe” McPherson is not quite so welcome a guest, at least not in this household. The remainder of the contributors are a roster of names overheard or alluded to but not yet encountered, and their contributions are predominantly picked from On The Turn rather than Kerbdog’s eponymous debut… so let’s see what this motley crew have made of Kilkenny’s finest.

Faithful reproduction appears to be the order of the day. Cars On Fire‘s clean, crisp and slightly shrieky take on “Pledge”; Left Side Brain‘s Helmet-esque reworking of “Severed”, Days Of Worth‘s “Didn’t Even Try”, Lenman‘s roughly caustic version of “Mexican Wave” (with a Baker Street-esque sax solo that works better than you might expect)… these aren’t the work of late-comers thinking they can improve the material, but people paying respect to their forebears.

There are a few more adventurous interpretations, though, most notably Frank Turner‘s fingerpickin’ busker’s shuffle through “Sally”, which makes much of the tune’s underlying angst and confusion, and Ocean Bottom Nightmare turn “On The Turn” into something ADHD-angry, falsetto-silly and (quite possibly) armed with a rusty Stanley blade. The afore-mentioned McPherson, much as I expected he might do, turns the epic “JJ’s Song” into a whiny acousti-emo complaint, while the ludicrously-named Hold Your Horse Is manage to turn “Secure” into shouty and badly-produced pub-punk through no method other than being themselves… of all the bands here, they’re the one that I’ll probably be freshly prejudiced against rather than in favour of. But two out of thirteen is a pretty reasonable proportion of duffers, all told.

Ultimately, I suspect Phil Rhodes will actually achieve the inverse of what he wanted to do with Pledge; this collection of covers is far more likely to introduce old Kerbdog fans to new artists than the other way round. But much as I’d love to see the Kilkenny trio more widely recognised for their excellent and underexposed output, I think sending new listeners toward younger artists with their chips still in the game is the better result. There are certainly a few new discoveries here that I’ll be looking out for in the future (the endearingly chunky Mike Got Spiked, for instance, and the low-slung Stations), and I’ve enjoyed being reminded of these long-term favourites that got buried by the relentless expansion of my music collection. Recommended for die-hard ‘doggers, as well as all fans of heavy music with strong melodic snap.