“Return The Day” by Dog Race – An EP Feature

     Dog Race, a band based in the UK, recently released the 5-song EP “Return The Day.” Our favorites tracks are “Return The Day (Colours)” and “It’s The Squeeze.” But referring to the EP in general, the band explained that it as:
  "A soundscape born from sleepless nights, intrusive thoughts, and the quiet war between the mind and the world around me. Each track pulls at the threads of cultish beliefs and everyday expectations, exposing the weight they place on someone already battling inner turmoil."

      The members are Katie Healy (vocals), Jed Finkelstein (drums), James Kelly (guitar), Will Macnab (bass), and Dillon Willis (synth). Their sound is easily distinguished from other songs featured on Indie Obsessive. The band is from England, but they show German influences, and as evidenced in “Return The Day (Colours)” and “It’s The Squeeze,” lyrical chants are a strength of Dog Race.

     “Return The Day (Colours)” by Dog Race

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dograceband/
Bandcamp: https://dograceband.bandcamp.com/
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dograceband?
 
Lyrics of “Return The Day (Colours)” by Dog Race
Count the stars getting out the shower
Boiling point, looks like a hot poached salmon
Finger the pink, beside the belly button
The curtains are catching a tan this Sunday
 
The Lord dimmed the virgin-stained windows
The sheet magenta, now a sheet of pale dogwood
I'd like to report a bad batch, act pronto!
My tears keep whispering I should be serenity
 
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
 
Pause the hand, circling the hour
The chestnut stain has wilted to a sweet timber
Finger the stitch, between the cord patch pockets
The ceilings are holding a mass this Sunday
The Lord dimmed the virgin-stained windows
The sheet of marine, a sheet of ancient
I'd like to report a bad batch, act pronto!
My tears keep whispering I should be serenity
 

I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
My colours are not working, my colours stopped working
[Repeating]

     “It's The Squeeze” by Dog Race

Lyrics of “It's The Squeeze” by Dog Race
How many studies, have aided your dysfunction
I’m in pain over here, and I can’t get a dog’s attention
It's a mutual understanding, that your bluey takes the winning
And I must download a squeezy app, to cure my suffering
 
Oh no, he won’t leave me alone
I owe my life to him, it’s just the situation
If a park run makes me bleed and cry
Then why suggest a marathon
I call it alone time with fiber glass insulation
 
I know that it’s my fault, but then it’s not
But then it is, but then it’s not, but then it is again
 
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
 
A budding rose bush is bursting into season
European nightcrawlers are itching for a feeding
Sawflies haunt the rosa peace, they ponder what is destined
She wonders if she’ll ever breed or shortly follow nature
 
Oh no, he won’t leave me alone
I owe my life to him, but it's just the situation
If I wage a war with life, I’ll never make a parent
I call it alone time with pesticide chrysanthemum
 
I know that it’s my fault, but then it’s not
But then it is, but then it’s not, but then it is
But then it’s not, but then it is again
 
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It's not the love [Repeating]

"All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights – A Song Feature

 

     This is a story of initially overlooking a song’s appeal—though not one of missed opportunity, since we eventually recognized what we had missed.  Caroline at Clarion Call Media gave us an early heads-up that Smokey Brights would soon release “All In Who You Know,” the first single from their upcoming album, “Dashboard Heat.” The 11-track album is set to drop on September 26, 2025. We immediately enjoyed the song, but it took a second encounter to fully open our ears.
 

      The instrumental highlight of "All In Who You Know" is from the Yamaha “keytar” that is shown in the embedded picture. It’s likely that this Yamaha SHS-10 is set in its Rock guitar “voice,” based upon the wail heard at the 46-second mark.  The instrument is held by Kim West, who also provides the lead vocals. The other members of Seattle-based Smokey Brights are Ryan Devlin (vocals/guitars), Luke Ragnar (bass/vocals), and Nick Krivchenia (drums).
 
      The final 30 seconds of the song are also noteworthy. "All In Who You Know" sequentially moves from a “banger” to Neo-psychedelia and then a near-religious delivery, before a final moment of self-congratulation.

     The lyrics of the song are included at the bottom of this post. Cleverly, Smokey Brights refer to "All In Who You Know" as “The world’s first anthem for mutual aid via petty theft - this synth-laden banger punches up at celebrities and egg barons and reminds us that the power to push back lies in small acts of resistance that can happen anywhere, even the grocery store checkout line.”

     "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokeybrights/
Website: http://smokeybrights.com/

Lyrics of "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights
Cereal for dinner, Thursday night
Grab some one percent from the Shop ‘n Rite
Thought about some cheap red wine
But my shift was slow, and tips were light
 
I picked up a magazine
Smokin' hot celebrities
They're just like us, but not like me
 
Guess it's all in who you know
 
Jo bagged the milk, and we caught up
Her kids, her folks, the rent, her boyfriend Doug
Talked about the rising price
Of stupid shit, of getting by
 
She ran my card, declined again
But she waived me through, cause she's a friend
 
Yeah, it's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
I said I'll buy you a beer, after your shift
You can't borrow the van, but I'll give you a lift
I mean, what's a job really worth to you?
If you see a friend, just wave ‘em through
 
It's all in who you know
It's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
So who do you know?
Who do you know?

“East London Hotel” and “Lighthouse” by Broken Fires – Song Features

 

     Broken Fires have released two tracks from their forthcoming third studio album, showcasing the band’s diverse strengths through the striking contrast between the two songs. “Lighthouse” emphasizes melody and harmony, including choral harmony, as the band nostalgically reflects on a landmark of their homeland. In comparison, “East London Hotel” features power vocals, driving guitar, and lyrics about the futility of objecting to gentrification. [The lyrics of both songs are included in this post.] 
 
     “Lighthouse” begins with non-complex, yet emotionally effective, solidary guitar that supports engaging harmony. A synth soon enters, followed by piano, but the vocals remain the focal point. The lyrics repeat three times, but the variations in presentation mask the repetition. The final iteration begins with the song’s most powerful moment, before gently returning to the understated beauty of the opening. Broken Fires, a Wales-based band, explain that “Lighthouse” was written on an industrial estate in Croydon whilst feeling the pain of missing the beauty of the Welsh coastline. More poetically, they state:
  “This is a song about a lighthouse made of iron, weathering the thick Welsh rain off the coast of Swansea. But fundamentally, it's about a longing for home. Sometimes we all need a lighthouse. A familiar, protective beacon that survives and guides us through the chaos of the storm.”
 
     The opening of “East London Hotel” is anything but gentle, with a forceful guitar immediately setting the tone. But the sound initially aligns more with another part of the UK - Scotland. The first verse even gives a nod to Scottish whisky. The band describes the track as blending “Biffy Clyro-esque guitars with unashamed melodic hooks to make a slightly bitter alt-pop cocktail about gentrification.” “East London Hotel” was written on the back of a bus on a journey home through Shoreditch London. The song was inspired by the epidemic of commercial developments turning once precious cultural spaces into pretentious hangouts.
 
     “East London Hotel” has the feel of a power anthem, but temporarily relaxes into a vocals-driven segment at 1:42. The song begins to return to its Rock roots 18 seconds later.
 
     Broken Fires are from Swansea, UK. The credits to “Lighthouse” identify the composers and lyricists as Thomas Stephens (lead vocals, guitar), Gareth Carter (guitar), Justin Hendy (guitar), and David Francis (drums), but pictures of the band often show six, and sometimes seven, musicians. Their upcoming album is scheduled for release in autumn 2025.
 
     “Lighthouse” by Broken Fires 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brokenfires

Bandcamp: https://brokenfires.bandcamp.com/
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/brokenfires
 
     “East London Hotel” by Broken Fires 

Lyrics of “Lighthouse” by Broken Fires
Back where I’m from,
There’s a lighthouse that shines.
It’s been guarding the ground.
Where they’ll scatter me out.
 
The salt hits my skin,
And the iron looks tired.
As we walk arm in arm,
Through the beauty of home
 
Lyrics of “East London Hotel” by Broken Fires
The neatest Scottish whiskey flows,
Into tumblers trimmed with gold,
At an east London hotel.
 
We all struggle to be seen,
Where privilege drips from pipes and beams,
At an east London hotel.
 
The outsiders are creeping in,
And fuck I know I’m part of it,
But there’s nothing you can do about it.
 
Blood under the fingernails,
Buying out the heart of things,
But a deal is a deal, I guess.
At an east London hotel.
At an east London hotel.
At an east London hotel.
 
 
I know,
You struggle to know what struggle is and,
I know,
You’re bedding down where privilege lives so,
Cut the cord,
Push a wall of sound through worn out walls.
 
I know,
There’s blood under your fingernails and,
I know,
They try to make it complicated,
And I know,
There’s nothing we can do about it.
At an east London hotel.
 
I know,
You struggle to know what struggle is and,
I know,
You’re bedding down where privilege lives so,
Cut the cord,
Push a wall of sound through worn out walls.
 
I know,
There’s blood under your fingernails and,
I know,
They try to make it complicated,
And I know,
There’s nothing we can do about it.
At an east London hotel.
At an east London hotel.
At an east London hotel.
 
At an east London hotel.