The Golden Dogs are probably best known for their single Bird Song. I think it may have been used in a car commercial or two back when it first come out.
I’ll understand if you don’t remember it. It was in that glorious golden era of so much great Canadian indie rock. You know, that time in Canadian music history that seems to be missing from the internet.
It’s part of the burden of being a fan of Canadian indie rock from the mid to late 2000s. You have to become a McConaughey/Harrelson like detective just to find the tiniest shred of evidence that a song or band existed and wasn’t a figment of your imagination.
There were a lot of broken links, old websites, and unused social media pages in the quest to find anything about the band. It seems like they are still active in some shape or form, but I’m not to sure. We haven’t seen them in Victoria for a very very long time.
The Golden Dogs are from Toronto and do one hell of a cover of a Paul McCartney & Wings song. It’s like they found a box of dusty old records in their dad’s basement and decided to clean them up to make them listenable again.
In many ways the Golden Dogs stay cautiously faithful to the original trying to not offend the mythical rock gods but throw that idea out the window by the end of the song. It’s the guitar solo at the end of the song that seals the deal on this modern refurbishment. In my opinion it is one of the great guitar solos, unrivalled by those that came before it.
I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m not a huge Paul McCartney fan. Heck, I’m not even all that into The Beatles. They made fine songs, and yes, I will concede that some are timeless. I just fell more on the Rolling Stones side of the fence. It was in my blood and literally tattooed on my skin.
My problem has always been with Paul McCartney’s bi-polar songwriting. It was fine when balanced by Lennon & Co. but I feel like Wings wouldn’t stand up to him because he was a “Beatle.” He was capable of writing epic piano heavy songs that would even make Elton John jealous, but would ruin it by mixing in reggae-styled breakdowns. Not everything needs to be a pop song.
Look at Live and Let Die. That song made James Bond look cool for about amazing string arrangement, but then Paul comes in with some garbage about doing a job. Paul McCartney made the world’s greatest spy (and lover) uncool. He’s like that friend at a party who only wants to talk about high school.
Paul McCartney & Wings created one of his greatest songs, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five. Well, up until the last thirty seconds when they pepper in Band on the Run. Why can’t the song just be the song? Why does it have to call back to your other hit, Paul? This is why The Golden Dogs cover is so much better. It cuts out that last 30 seconds of garbage and ends the way the song should end without clutter.
Fuck it. Just listen to Jet.