Album Review: The Scratch - 'Pull Like A Dog'
The Scratch have both bite and bark on their latest album, Pull Like A Dog.
The Scratch, who started as a busking project between four friends a decade or so ago, are now one of the fiercest and liveliest bands to come out of Ireland. A perfect fusion of metal and traditional folk, there is no other band out there quite like them, and their third album, Pull Like A Dog, is perhaps their best work yet.
Opening the album is the title track, Pull Like A Dog, and there’s immediately no holding back from The Scratch. The song plunges you straight into the madness; it’s pure raw energy from the get-go, with bone-rattling percussion and naughty riffs. Its title was inspired by a phrase coined by the O’Donovan brothers, Irish Olympic Rowers, who once said in an interview, “close your eyes and pull like a dog,” after winning a silver medal at the Olympics. It’s a phrase that embodies the sheer grit and determination it takes to achieve your dreams. An apt title for the song, as well as the album. It’s a phrase that throws one hell of a punch and captures the tone and direction of the album nicely.
The Scratch go from one high-energy song into another, Pullin’ Teeth. It is, at its core, a folk song, opening with acoustic guitars plucked at such a pace that they resemble the fiddle, before the cajon drum begins, and my god, the sheer amount of raucous energy that pours from this track is truly infectious. “Sometimes you get lucky / sometimes they’ll disappear back up their own arse if it’s not too mucky / if you’re lucky,” a nod to the genius lyric writing must also be given here. What The Scratch have truly nailed is the ability to balance two differing genres perfectly, and as you get deeper into Pullin’ Teeth, they begin to merge their metal expertise with their folk. It starts as a slow rumble, before the dark, heavy metal thumping begins.
The deep dive into the album continues with Crack, which has an eerie tone to it, slower to start and almost hypnotising “step on a crack and you might find yourself alone.” The acoustic guitars carry this song from the beginning, while the slow, steady drumbeat that kicks in keeps the energy floating. Mother Of God is as dirty as they come with its riffs, and while it feels slower than the first few tracks, it also feels like one of the heaviest, and perhaps exactly why The Scratch have landed a slot at Bloodstock this year.
Pull Like A Dog does actually contain some moments of respite, though, with slower, or as slow as a band like The Scratch can go, songs like Spacer and I Hope All Is Forgiven. The latter will potentially catch you off guard with its haunting beauty, vocalist Daniel Lang accompanied by nothing more than a few strums of the guitar. A song that confronts death and grief headfirst, “then I heard that he’s no longer living / he’s gone, he’s gone / I hope all is forgiven.” It is the slowest song on the album by far, but it still packs a punch as strong as the rest of them.
The droning end of I Hope All Is Forgiven rolls seamlessly into Horsefly, which picks the pace of the album back up again. The twang of the guitar strings and quick-paced beat of the drum will immediately get under your skin, will have you scratching an itch you didn’t know you had. Roses n Poses is similar with its addictive energy.
Closing out Pull Like A Dog is the track Ringsend, which is another slower track in comparison to the majority of the album. The Scratch lean more into their folk roots with Ringsend; it’s a song that feels laced with the sounds of their ancestors, and the addition of the strings elevates it further. It’s a suitable track to end on, gently drawing the fierce energy of the album in and wrapping it up nicely. As they say, all good things must come to an end…the beauty in this is that you can just hit repeat.
Pull Like A Dog is a firecracker of an album from start to finish. The talent that oozes from this four-piece knows no bounds; those who have seen them live can testify to this. The Scratch are truly one of a kind, and if Pull Like A Dog is anything to go by, they show absolutely no signs of slowing down or stopping. It feels like their most confident album yet, and dare I say it, their best.
And while it’s only March, Pull Like A Dog is already a strong contender for Album Of The Year.
Words by Angela English
