Rising Atlanta four-piece Dog Bite create music that fans of the brilliant Diiv will find both familiar and near irresistible
iiv frontman Zachary Cole Smith recently gained some unwanted notoriety with his arrest for possession of Class A drugs and a driving misdemeanour. It’s something that might detract from the truly inspired music, indebted equally to the soundscapes of shoegaze and the moody pop melodies of The Cure, which his band create. As far as Songwriting is aware Atlanta four-piece Dog Bite share no such notoriety with Diiv; what they do have in common is the ‘mixing The Cure with shoegaze’ bit.Opening with the beautiful instrumental piece Warm, Wake Up, a song that sounds like the introduction and closing piece to a number of the classic tracks on Disintegration, LA EP sees Dog Bite operating with a heavenly appreciation for dreamy melancholia. Hunting Season sounds like the most comfortable partner for Diiv, with its melodies reminiscent of shoegaze heroes Ride. Not ones to be wedded to a blueprint, there’s even something of the profound and elegant ambience of Japanese post-rock act Mono to be found in the melodies of the haunting Cold Weather. Closer LA Sounds has the dreamy atmospherics that made shoegaze so appealing during its pomp.
Though hardly jaunty, and at times near downcast, LA EP is full of the sort of dreamy melodies that help guide your night-time listening into blissful dreaming.
Verdict: Their bark is more melodic than their bite
Damien Girling
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