Puppy, Grove Street Families, PINE UK: Sound Basement, Liverpool

Puppy

Puppy came to Sound basement for a head banging sell out show and Getintothis’ Steven Doherty was there for the ride.

So, London-based (we do hope they’re from Barking) three-piece Puppy. Are they best in show or very paw?

It really is a clever name for a band, reviews write themselves using dog-related puns and the connotations of the word will make them sound forever fresh and new, which as a band they are, recently signed to legendary hard-rock label Spinefarm Records with their debut album “The Goat” out in January.

First things first, the support. Grove Street Families … they’re a hardcore band from the mean streets of Southampton, which you would never have guessed from the racket they make.

“BRING IT IN, BRING IT IN, MORE ENERGY“, they implore to the crowd, who in fairness more than respond, bearing in mind it’s a support band on a Sunday night.

On paper, they’re an odd choice for a tour support, but tonight they act as the perfect crowd warm-up.

Puppy have two of the essential items for any band on the up, a merch table selling t-shirts to the side of them and a banner behind them with flame effect stage props either side of it.

They enter the sold-out (impressive for a newer band whatever the venue) fray with “Entombed” and are instantly unrecognisable from the weaker- sounding recorded version which lands as a cross between JJ72 and Whitesnake (Google them, kids) but live it seems to have an added layer.

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The Molko/Corgan lilt of the vocals is also far more evident tonight, especially on the two tracks from “The Goat“, both of which have a more commercial edge than the older material, especially the new single “Black Hole”.

The set highlight is “Arabella“, the closest thing we get to a ballad and with a change of vocalist, it has a 90’s grunge, Soundgarden-esque feel to it.

“This is our last song, we literally don’t know any others“, before ending with “Demons“, extending the ending to indulge the crowd in some old-school headbanging.

If now being signed ahead of their debut enables them to capture more of the essence of their live sound, then Puppy are soon to be top dogs.

Images by Getintothis’ Lucy McLachlan