Review: Street Dogs - State of Grace

Label: Hellcat Records

Released: July 8, 2008

State of Grace is an album of roots: family roots, community roots, ethnic roots...and musical roots. Don't confuse that with being about the past though. The album doesn't break out on any new musical paths, but it is every bit about the present and future as it is about the past. That's quite simply because it's alive.

Steet Dogs' musical roots are the likes of Stiff Little Fingers' rough, melodic honesty and Cocksparrer's angry, yet refined hooks. They don't nail every song on the album, with a couple or three that, for all their passion, just fall a bit flat (but only in comparison to their own highs, not against the field in general). But when they're on, they write the kind of punk anthems that thousands of kids would be willing to walk through fire behind. Street Dogs tap into why punk rock still means something to kids generations after it started. At their best, they are the soundtrack to the good fight and anger based on love. They are the songs I can play when I need the spark to be a better person.

History books are about the past, but roots are the basis for today. You can't stand steady to face the future without them. Street Dogs know their roots, but they live right here in the present and connect.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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