The Australian rock band Dog Trumpet has been together since 1990, and its two key members — brothers Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa (aka Chris O’Doherty) — have been playing even longer than that. They were members of another Australian band, Mental as Anything, which formed in Sydney in 1976. And yet, somehow Dog Trumpet had escaped my attention until now. And the band had never played in the U.S. until a visit to Austin, Texas, last week for South By Southwest.
I saw Dog Trumpet play a gig at B.D. Riley’s on the third day of SXSW, and the group’s songs immediately hooked me. Something about the way the brothers sing reminds me of the Faces, especially Ronnie Lane’s songs. They also came across as talented musicians who know how to play guitar solos in the classic rock style. And if I had any doubt, how could I not like a band with a song about the Kinks?
I liked Dog Trumpet enough that I decided to buy a copy of the band’s double CD from 2013, Medicated Spirits, and sure enough, it sounds terrific. Now, I’ll have to dig deeper into the Dog Trumpet discography. And hope that these guys decide to visit our shores again sometime soon.
(A note on these photos: Can you tell I was struggling to overcome the terrible, i.e., heavily red, lighting at B.D. Riley’s?)
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.