White Dog

Rock ‘n’ roll has never been set in stone. The Riff is a malleable, liberated thing. Anything goes. Everything is up for grabs. Evolution is inevitable, and the future is a blank page. Returning after three years with their second studio album, Double Dog Dare, WHITE DOG have been revelling in a state of creative flux and are poised to share their revelations with the world.

“To say that we’ve gone through some changes in the last three years would be an understatement,” says drummer John Amoss. “After the release of our debut album we had to make some tough decisions, one of them being the decision to replace our friend and original frontman Joe Sterling. We also knew that we wanted to add organ and keyboards permanently. It took a long time to find the right players but finally, enter the new kids, our singer Jake LaTouf and Oscar Favian on keys.”

Formed in 2015 in Austin, Texas, White Dog began with a shared vision of blazing, fuzzed-out rock that drew gleefully from their home city’s rich cultural melting pot. Emboldened by an us-against-the-world gang mentality and inspired by everything from dusty roots rock to explosive old school prog, the band’s self-titled album emerged in 2021, courtesy of natural home Rise Above Records, and immediately stood out as a sophisticated, earthy and characterful new strain of retro rambunctiousness. Like just about everyone else, White Dog soon found that plans to take their music to masses were to be scratched from the slate, and this most instinctive of live bands found themselves with time to kill.

“Like the rest of the world, we were affected by the pandemic not just individually but as a band,” says John. “It wasn’t ideal timing for releasing your first album. But having 18 months without shows did allow us the opportunity to find the right replacements and to write what ended up being the A-side of Double Dog Dare. So I guess you could say we used our time wisely through all of the madness, and I think it really made us a better band.”

Recorded over a period of eight days at Stuart Sikes Audio (with engineer Andrew McCalla) in Austin, Double Dog Dare takes all of the debut album’s deftly assembled ingredients and allows them to fly free, liberated from expectation. At times mellower than its predecessor, at others strident and ferocious, these new songs showcase White Dog’s organic development, with elements of everything from wistful southern rock to crusty-eyed jazz rock finding a place. Somehow even more fluid and fiery than before, this band are growing and expanding before our ears.

“We learned a lot from recording our first record,” says John. “I’d say the biggest difference this go round was that we were more focused and aware in the creative process. Early on we agreed that we wanted to add elements of southern music to the mix while still maintaining the core of our original sound. I’d be lying if I said everything just fell into place easily! We put our hearts and souls into these tunes. So in the end we felt like we were going into the studio with a solid group of songs.”

From thrilling, souled-out opener Holy Smokes to the gritty country rock of Glenn’s Tune and the meandering psych-prog blowout of album centrepiece Frozen Shadows, Double Dog Dare is alive with great ideas and heartfelt authenticity. With a settled and refreshed line-up of Amoss, his guitarist brother Carl, bassist Rex Pape, guitarist Clemente De Hoyos, new vocalist Jake LaTouf and keyboard maestro Oscar Favian, White Dog have transcended their original ethos and have become an even richer and more addictive proposition. Both avowedly true to the bone and blessed with a gift for mischief, they have made an album that stands shoulder to shoulder with the classic records that inspired it, while also bringing the Texans’ uniquely skewed view of the world to the party.

“The subject matter of these songs is pretty eclectic, to be honest” notes John. “Let’s see… there’s a song about a bank heist, and another one about the Vietnam war. Then there’s one about draining an old lake! Glenn’s Tune is about Rex’s late father. Hell, we even did a radio jingle. So yeah we are kinda all over the place ha ha ha!”

Still unique and still rocking with abandon, White Dog have undergone upheavals and transformations, and Double Dog Dare is the scintillating result. Now free to peddle their incendiary wares, they will return to the stage with their strongest material to date, and a newfound enthusiasm for giving The Riff the respect and imagination it deserves.

“The plan right now is to get on the road as much as possible in 2024,” John states. “The touring that we have done has yielded really good results but there’s a whole world out there that we would like to see! What better way to do than playing music with your buds? Currently we are way beyond ready to release this puppy and to tour, tour, tour! We are always writing and evolving as people and as a band. Who knows exactly what tomorrow will bring? What we do know is that we love each other like brothers and we love making music together.”

Dom Lawson