Review: All Dogs – Kicking Every Day

All Dogs
Kicking Every Day

Salinas Records
Street: 08.28
All Dogs = Bully + Speedy Ortiz

Like that forlorn ache I get sometimes when looking back on my teenage years, Kicking Every Day feels like youth, like a charming scar from what used to be a constantly reopening scratch. What I mean is that this album carries timeless themes without feeling at all cliché. This is the first full-length by All Dogs, following their 2013 self-titled EP, which was packed with killer tunes. There’s a restlessness that stirs up feelings of a worn-in anxiety and tired contentedness, heard in “How Long,” “Ophelia” and “Skin,” and it’s relatable as hell. Maryn Jones’ voice is high, easy and soothing, coasting melodically along the rhythms of each song. For me, it’s better with each listen, rock music that’s upfront with and unabashedly dependent on its emotion. It maintains a gentleness, even in their punchier songs (“That Kind of Girl”), which lends a sense of kindness to it all. –Erin Moore