TUBILAH DOG

In search of Plaice - funny title, no doubt a mutilated take on Hawkwind's 'In Search Of Space' ?! Tubilah Dog were a tripped-out alternative band frequenting the 'festival' scene in the U.K. to which Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles, Hippy Slags (to name a few) were sometime a part of. This particular album getting a beautifully presented vinyl release on the 'Beard of Stars' label. Sensational art- work indeed. Centred around guitarist/vocalist Steve Mills (also the main composer), no 2 songs feature the same line-up, thus resulting in some very interesting outcomes. 'Watching...' is a powerful little rocker with a clean and crisp sound (the drums sounding really good here) and is built around a memorable riff and catchy chorus but is not an attempt at Top 40 trash, no no, they're much too good for that. 'Inside The Circle' is a 6 min slow-paced track which drifts along peacefully with lightly strummed guitar, subtle bass, hand percussion and vox - most enjoyable. 'Wyrd Romance' is an almost 8 min ultra-cool, hard-rocking rave-up which climaxes with an, umm, climax !! Not too bad but a tad over-long. 'Flowers In The Forest' sounds like a traditional, folky piece of music, with Northumbrian Pipes and electronic treatments - quite an eclectic combination. 'Flat Broke and Busted' is an acoustic sounding, singer/songwriter styled track. On Side 2 we have 'Friends', which is heavily programmed and ravey - the only piece which sounds like any other on the album. 'Domitius' is an absolute psychedelic 'spin-out' comprising of electronic drones, weird vocals and sounds, ending with some crunching guitar riffs (very Black Sabbath) and strange effects - Space-Rock gone bonkers !! 'O.W.V.' is a 7 min jam oriented song, recorded live during a soundcheck in Berlin, and has the synthetic sounding electronic hard-rock vibe of some of the more recent Hawkwind albums. Overall, what T-Dog offers the listener is variety, and because of its variety, it may appeal to many.

Now this is one of those "un-catagorizable" albums. "In Search Of Plaice" is a brilliant trip into the psychedelic world in what I would coin "Chamber - Psych" music. The opening track has an almost Industrial feel to it immediately assaulting the senses of the listener. Blending war images (voices) with a heavy psych-prog feel. Other songs then take us into space with very slow spacey landscapes. "In Search Of Plaice" has many different musical faces and at times reminds me of a cross between PORCUPINE TREE and PRAXIS. This album is very spaced out and seems to roam all over the map musically. This album will not appeal to all good prog fans out there in progland but for the very adventurous this album will provide hours of interesting listening. A very creative offering which I do really like.