Drowning Dogs – We Are Only Human Once (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It comes as no surprise that We Are Only Human Once has recorded an album largely of Sparklehorse songs, as listening to the latest album, Drowning Dogs, reveals many similarities. I’m not at all saying that there is any plagiarism or plunder at work, but the two do seem, in many ways, like spiritual brethren. Okay, not if you compare this album to the fuzz-punk side of Mark Linkous’ music, but certainly to the lo-fi, bedroom asceticism and the hazy, delicate, and ambient acoustica that he was so good at.

“Ditch Song,” which opens the album, is a perfect way for listeners to dip their toes into the waters of WAOHO. This hypnotic spiraling riff is joined by tones and textures to gradually build sonic weight and increasingly heavier atmospheres as it muses on the edge that the narrator lives on, leaves, and undertakes a surreal sojourn.

Given the stark piano notes and the title itself, you might think that “Since The War” is going to become some grandiloquent sonic statement, but it quickly takes a corner, becoming a more beat-driven, buoyant, groove-derived piece, delicate yet deliciously addictive.

“Out For The Count” is the sound of the self-reflective singer-songwriter using a band to flesh out his creation deftly. “One Last Swing” sounds as if the listener is sitting with the singer, as the band seems to emanate from the next room… a sense of detachment and ethereality found in such low-key sound and simple separation.

The title track is chiming and charming, and seems to expand the soundscape it explores as it heads into “The look in your eyes, you’d think I was drowning dogs,” which is a gorgeous swathe of string-sonics and liquid guitars, unfussy beats, and some brilliantly world-weary vocals.

I guess what stands out with Drowning Dogs is not just the gentle musicality but a sense of bravery too, the sound of a singer-songwriter fashioning music that gives themself little to hide behind and being willing to lyrically bare all, to say the things out loud that normally remain private thoughts. For all the album’s delicate beauty, I would say that it is the confessional nature, the sharing of the inner monologue, the sheer vulnerability of the artist that is the real charm for me.