CD review DOG EAT DOG ‘Brand New Breed’ – EP

(7/10) It was in 1994 when an album started to unfold a beauty that was pretty new at the time. Dog Eat Dog from New Jersey debuted with ‘All Boro Kings’, an album that added a new chapter to the history of crossover music. The combination of Dan Nastasi’s great riffs, excellent hooks and an extremely well-integrated saxophone created a fascination that’s still alive these days.

‘No Fronts’ and ‘Who’s the King’ are crossover classics, being as energizing nowadays as they were in the first half of the 90’s. The sophomore ‘Play Games’ couldn’t really continue the winning streak and instead, radio-silence toom over more and more.

In 2017 Dog Eat Dog returned with a self-released 4-track EP entitled ‘Brand New Breed’. A year later it is Metalville that re-issues the EP with four additional bonus songs.

The four songs of the original EP are mainly good, but can’t connect to the anthems of ‘All Boro Kings’. However, ‘XXV’ and the reggae-based ‘Lumpy Dog’ are grooving Dog Eat Dog songs that have the potential to start a party, while ‘Vibe Cartel’ is the heaviest song on the album and shows the band also in a good shape and form too.

‘Emojii Baby’ is the weakest song on the album and it would not have been missed if not being on the EP. Furthermore, this edition includes with ‘ISMS’, ‘Rocky’ and ‘Lumpy Dog’ three unplugged live songs before ‘XXV” returns in a live version. These live songs are OK, but a few additional new songs would have been much better. I guess that collectors will not hesitate when it comes to ‘Brand New Breed’. The rest of you needs to decide if three good ‘new’ songs are worth the investment.

(7/10)

Tracklist: