Pavlov's Dog - Late November

Tom writes:

“Hello there,
so I recently stumbled over your page and really enjoy it :D. And I saw that you like some Rush songs as well as Prog Rock and therefore I wanted to recommend you the band Pavlovs Dog and especially their first album Pampered Manial since I myself got it recommendet by someone who said ah you like Rush, you might also enjoy this..so yeah if you want give them a listen ;D
with dear regards
Tom (and sorry if my englisch isn't the greatest ^^)”

This is the dream of this blog. Random people recommending music to me.  After all, what am I if not a random person recommending music?

I had never heard of Pavlov’s Dog prior to this recommendation, so this has been a positive new adventure for me. The comparison to Rush was apt, their electronic sounds does connect to some Rush influences, notably in the singer David Surkamp’s singing voice, where he is sometimes doing his best Geddy Lee impersonation, while other times, he sounds like a higher pitched version. Their high use of electronic keyboard and spontaneous use of classic wind and string instruments reminds me of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer, and the Moody Blues.

Now that I have compared Pavlov’s Dog to three of the greatest progressive rock bands every, it should be easy to surmise that I am very impressed with this band.

After a cursory examination of Pavlov’s Dog’s discography and their release dates, it becomes clear that Povlov’s Dog exists in two moments, their early days in the 1970s, and a return in the 2010s. I suppose we should not mind the thirty-year gap in the middle.

I am new to Pavlov’s Dog, so I thought it would be logical to start at the beginning. Pavlov’s Dog’s debut album “Pampered Menial” came out in 1975, and it is this album where I began this journey. It is a good album; like, a really good album; probably in my top ten favorite progressive rock albums of all time; probably around nine or ten, but still. Now I have been relistening to “Pampered Menial” instead of moving on to the next album. This is the sort of problem I can live with, I will get to 1976’s “At the Sound of the Bell” soon enough I am sure, but for now, I am indulging myself with “Pampered Menial.” Tom was right, Pavlov’s Dog’s first album is superb.

When it comes to structuring a great album, the value of starting and ending strong cannot be understated.

Pavlov’s Dog had the good sense of starting “Pampered Menial” strong with “Julia” and ending with an epic called “Of Once and Future Kings.” Right in the middle track four “Fast Gun” which is probably the most upbeat sounding song on the album and serves as a climax. “Fast Gun” has that string section I said reminded me of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer earlier. The flow of “Pampered Menial” is effectively perfect.

There is an observation I made regarding my favorite songs on “Pampered Menial,” and that is that David Surkamp wrote all of my favorites. Literally all of my least favorite songs are the ones he was not involved in writing. No disrespected intended to the rest of Pavlov’s Dog’s original line up, I am just saying how impressed I am with Surkamp.

I am torn between “Fast Gun” and “Late November” as to which song on “Pampered Menial” is my most favorite, but it is literally late November, so we might as well pay some attention there.

“Late November” is the second song on “Pampered Menial,” it follows “Julia,” and I think this is a perfect pair of songs. I briefly mentioned that “Julia” is an emotional balled, with a narrator pleading to a woman he loves to be his. “Late November” is a different perspective, it is about accepting an unexpected love’s sudden appearance and her even more unexpected sudden departure. In “Late November” Surkamp describes this mysterious lover’s behavior as being similar to lightning, bright and beautiful, but fast as light, and vanishing immediately after their presence is announced, and never going unnoticed.

I listen to a lot of progressive rock, but still, “Late November” is the first time I have ever heard someone compare their lover to lightning. The lightning lover works as a great metaphor all on its own, but it fits so neatly as a progressive rock song. It is an experimental simile, but in an already experimental rock song, it makes perfect sense. I am not entirely convinced the simile would work half so well in a different style of song, but in progressive rock there is an ever present theme of mirthful magic and ultra dimension science fiction, so comparing someone to lightning is appropriate.

Many thanks to Tom, this stranger with good music taste, who have introduced me to a fantastic band that I am overjoyed to include in my casual listening hence forth.

And until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

P.S.  Thanks Tom.