Dogstar - "Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees"

Because who doesn't love Keanu?

Dogstar is a band I’d never heard of before, but I couldn’t pass up trying out a band in which Keanu Reeves is the bassist. Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees is only their third full-length album, with their first two releasing in 1996 and 2000.

I mean, Keanu has stayed pretty busy, but that’s a 23-year gap.

Sonically, the band is clearly in the vein of late 90s/early 00s Alt Rock, with just a touch of Post-Grunge in there. Some have labeled them as Grunge (it’s even listed on their Wikipedia page), and maybe it was true on their first two albums, but there’s no Grunge here. Even the Post- is very light.

While Keanu’s presence in the band is what brings them attention, it’s Bret Domrose’s performance on lead guitar and vocals which provides the band its core sound; of the three members (the third being drummer and backing vocalist Robert Mailhouse), he does the most heavy-lifting. And Domrose’s vocal style and tone sounds absurdly familiar – he’s not in any other bands, but he sounds like somebody, and I’m just not certain who. Presently, my best approximation is a blend of Monoral, David Bowie, and maybe some Incubus. Monoral and Incubus also have the benefit of being somewhat similar to the band’s overall sound (at least on this album), as all three are Alt Rock bands. Domrose’s vocal range reminds me of Bowie, a bit, though he rests in lower registers than Bowie typically did (but Bowie had the same notes), and some moments have a very Bowie vocal flair.

Dogstar doesn’t do anything wildly inventive, by any means. The band largely relies on the tried-and-true four-piece rock set, and the songs are all very straightforward. At the same time, they’re good, especially in the early section of the album. The first four songs are among the best across the whole album. Those same four songs also illustrate pretty much the entire range of the album, highs and lows.

The rest of the album is still worth a listen if you enjoy those first four tracks, though. “Glimmer” brings in some darker tones for a bit of variance, and closing track “Breach” has most of the Grunge tones to be found on the album.

Overall, it’s a good listen. Nothing mindblowing, but enjoyable.

Rating: Green