We cannot even estimate the number of times Nap LaJoy’s “Bulldogs” has hit our speakers or earbuds during the last seven days. The plan on how to share the appreciation for the musical experience has shifted from day-to-day. This morning, we decided to use the travellator as an analogy, hoping to pique the interest of other Indie fans. Quickly, a “travellator” is a term used in some areas to identify the long-distance, constant-speed moving walkways at many international airports.
From the outset of “Bulldogs” until a few seconds from the end, the percussion establishes the travellator. There are some variations during the five minutes, but a comparison to a constant-speed walkway is fair. Unlike most songs, there isn’t a chorus or other element during which the tempo fundamentally changes.
As “Bulldogs” progresses, pedestrians enter and exit. The first is an acoustic guitar, then an electric guitar strum with a sound straight from the Canadian band Hey Rosetta!. Vocals step onto the path. These pedestrians texture the travellator as they progress at the pace set by the percussion. The affect is enjoyable and relaxing. Then, at the 2:22 mark, a guitar enters the walkway with some urgency, hurries along at a quicker pace, and jumps off upon reaching a destination.
The travellator analogy isn’t as helpful in the final 90 seconds of “Bulldogs,” when the song heads into a polyphonic stage. But the track would not be the same without this stage. The electric guitar leads a one-man crescendo that delivers a piano (at 3:55) with no sense of its surroundings as it performs a “solo.” The song becomes a controlled, orchestrated chaos that eventually ends quietly.
Thus far, three songs have unquestionably established themselves as having positions on the year-end “Best of 2017” lists. “Bulldogs” is one.
Nap LaJoy is a band based in New York/Connecticut. The members are Devin O’Keeffe (vocals, guitar), Michael Simonelli (guitar, keys, production), Kevin Hunter (bass), and David Newman (percussion). They are scheduled for an August 11 album release. The album, “Host,” will be on the Full Stop Art label (www.fullstopart.com).
“Bulldogs” by Nap LaJoy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naplajoyband/
Website: http://www.naplajoy.com/
Great band, great people
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