You really cannot fail to love any musical presentation that has an animal in the title of a song.  For All The Cows by Foo Fighters and March Of The Pigs by Nine Inch Nails prove this well.

Not My Pig is the fourth song on Enduro, the soon to be released record by Canadian band Dearly Beloved, on EOne Records Canada.

After two fast and furious openers Enduro and Olympics Of No Regard, songs three and four, Astor DuPont Payne and Not My Pig slow the pace for a while, but lead you into a false sence of semi-relaxation, before the record explodes again with Seven Plagues.

Front faces Robert Higgins; bass & vocals and Niva Chow; vocals & tamborine, have once again split the singing duties, managing to mix, match and balance through the entire production.  Both have the ability to switch from lullaby to screech at the drop of a hat and back, without batting an eyelid.  They work incredibly well off one another, an almost impossible partnership to acheive and endure in this day of music.  Hawk vs Pigeon, the previous record by Dearly Beloved, demonstrated this all too well and while you can hear some similarities on this record, the sound and contributors have definately evolved and Hawkwind have seemingly been fed into the mixing desk  through an IV.

All Sins Are Forgiven takes you back to a smoky Jazz club, where incidental singers dropped in and dropped acid while rattling tin cups for a payday.  It sounds a little as if Black Sabbath joined them to close out the song.

Despite tempo changes and slow downs, you won’t sit still through this record.  The beat and hooks don’t allow it.  What you will do is hear a mixture of musical prowess and electronic genius.  You will literally Run For Your Life.  

Ether Binge ends this show and will slow you down once again, bringing a sound reminiscent of very early Duran Duran.  Allowing you to catch your breath, before you press play once again for a re-run.

This is not a record for the faint of heart.  It will fuck with your sense of timing and produce the kind of vertigo that one would imaging if they were atop The Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Take a gravol or two, hold tight and knuckle down, lightweight.

Taking part on this production along with Chow and Higgins was Adam Kasper, well known for working with Soundgarden and Queens Of The Stone Age, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.  Kasper was on hand to provide the mix for this record.

Desert dwellers at Rancho De La Luna;  Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death Metal) and Chris Goss (Sound City Players), both contributed guitar to the new record.  Dave Elitch (M83) was around too!

Chow tells that “Songs finished were subjected to the ultimate use-it-or-lose-it test: did it sound good while racing a car through the desert?”

We at TiTT can tell you that all the finished songs probably sounded great without the race test, but we would have taken part anyway!

The songs that made it through will keep you headbanging instead of doing your homework, highten your ADHD tapping to new levels and really piss off the middle aged Westboro Baptist member and his family next door.

Job well done!

KG March 20 2014  Photo Credit KG