The Sheepdogs - Alright OK

The Sheepdogs are the best Canadian rock band there is right now. The four burly and bearded Saskatooners rose to prominence through a Rolling Stone contest that was searching for the best unsigned band in America. They were part of a group of 32 bands fighting for a recording contract, a gig at Bonnaroo, and the coveted cover shoot for Rolling Stone Magazine. With each issue the bands were cut in half and The Sheepdogs just kept hanging in there. I was rooting for them the whole way (originally because they were the sole Canucks in the competition, but once I finally gave 'em a listen... holy shit! Blew my fuckin' mind!). Sure enough they made it to the final four and got to play a set at Bonnaroo. Then they're in the final two and next thing I know they've won the fucking competition! Just insane for these four good ol' Canadian boys playing good ol' Classic Rock. One small note that I have to make because it's somewhat important and also kinda funny: Garnier hair products was the key sponsor of this competition. The runner up was a solo chick with short, boring hair. The Sheepdogs all have long hair and facial hair. No idea if Garnier had a say in any of the voting but I sure know who they were pushing for... 

Either way, The Sheepdogs absolutely deserved to win and if you've had the chance to see them live you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. These guys slogged it out for almost a decade, taking ridiculous gigs like a 14 hour drive through an Ontario snowstorm to play a Sushi shop. But it all seemed worth it as they honed their chops and created incredible chemistry that is obvious in their live performances.

I first saw The Sheepdogs as an opening act for Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver. They absofuckinglutely crushed it. They played for a little over an hour and had the entire crowd bumping. It was such a great set that the entire theatre was buzzing for an hour after the show. It took Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (a great live act themselves) almost half of their set to recover from what The Sheepdogs had done. Just insane, something that I have never seen. The next time I saw them was the early set, 12pm, at Sasquatch Festival on the main stage. They once again crushed it and the small crowd that they had started with swelled to massive by the end of their set.

After winning the contest and re-releasing their 2008 album along with a new EP I thought The Sheepdogs would be done for a while. A band that has been slogging it for so long to come out with such a great album I felt that they'd been tapped and that'd be fine cuz they still rock. But when they released their new album last week it blows my mind how good it is! They came back and recorded a sick sick sick follow up that rivals their earlier stuff. The self-titled album was produced by The Black Keys, probably the only other rock band on planet erf right now that is even in their league (Keys are actually slightly better still). The Sheepdogs have been heavily influenced by the Keys' sound and that's a great thing indeed.

The two songs I've chosen form the new album are "Alright OK" and "Feeling Good". The first has really cool, trippy electric guitar layered with acoustic guitar and great vocal harmonies. The latter has fuzzed out guitar and a catchy good times chorus. The opening really reminds me of the 70's one hit wonder "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Here it is:

Both songs are great but not even the main highlights. The whole fucking album is! Go listen to it now!