Album Reviews
When Modern Baseball’s Jake Ewald hit a patch of writer’s block in 2015, he moved the focus off of himself in his songs and started writing about fictional characters living in the equally fictional town of Slaughter Beach. This new way of writing worked well and led to “Welcome”, Slaughter Beach, Dog’s first full-length.
Ewald has now revisited Slaughter Beach on the 4-song EP that is “Motorcycle.jpg”, even though this time around he is leaving it in the middle whether he is writing about some unnamed character or about himself. It provides him with complete freedom, both lyrically and musically, and leads to surprising cuts like the gentle jam that is “Glowing” and first single “Building The Ark”, a Weakerthans-like song that tells the story of a strange night in Las Vegas. Yeah, the John K. Samson worship is not exactly hidden here, but there are worse artists to look up to.
If “Welcome” wasn’t already proof enough that Slaughter Beach, Dog was more than just a way for Ewald to get over his writer’s block, then “Motorcycle.jpg” definitely shows that this solo project comes with plenty of potential.
Track listing:
- Your Cat
- Glowing
- 104 Degrees
- Building The Ark
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
