DESCRIPTION:
I woke up feeling like shit this morning.

I mean, I’ve BEEN feeling like shit; I came down with a nasty sort of flu yesterday that put me out of commission for just about every languorous minute I chose to spend awake. But this morning, it felt as if my mild sickness was at its apex. Unrealistically-heavy eyelids despite having well-over nine hours of rest, throat and sinuses similarly-lined with an unremitting layer of mucus, a restraining sense of weariness to my muscles that WOULD be appropriate had I done anything but sleep and moan yesterday – which I didn’t. As I caught my own impaired gaze in the bathroom mirror, eyes as red as the emblazoned work shirt I had no choice but to wear to a job I fucking hate, I not only knew that this illness was life’s way of figuratively giving me the finger, but also its way of assuring me that this sense of unwelcomeness wouldn’t be subsiding anytime soon. Being miserable may be my specialty, but today, I knew that talent would be coming to me naturally.

As per usual, I sought out some listening material to accompany my preparation for another stint of over-glorified servitude – I don’t know, just some sounds to distract myself with so I can avoid having to come to terms with the fact that my life will never be anything more than me wasting away at jobs I absolutely hate in order to “earn” measly sums of money that’s only going to make me just as miserable and stressed as I am while working. This particular morning, I settled on a tape that was simply sitting atop of the rest on the shelf – I was so tired yesterday afternoon that I didn’t even bother to properly assimilate it with the rest of my collection once it showed up in my mailbox an hour prior. “Dogs In Ether”: that wasn’t a name I was very familiar with. I let the name rattle around in my empty skull until I eventually drew connections to a member of this Californian hardcore group, who contacted me a few days back to ask if I’d be down to share their material. Steve, Stevie… Steven? It’s probably Steven, Steven’s the one who sent me the tape. Thanks Steven.

I hadn’t listened to the tape since it arrived, so I went ahead and popped it into the deck before leaving the room to dig up a pair of shoes that’d best compliment my corporate attire (what color best speaks “I’m a slave to my unchanging socio-economic status”?). As I lumbered over to my bedroom, I began to pick up on the introductory bassline that was faintly emanating through the poorly-insulated walls – catchy, sure, but I had to see where it went. It wasn’t long until I was back in the same room with shoes in hand, and nothing in mind; like I said before, it was pretty early in the morning, and I was feeling like total dog-shit on top of that, so I might as well been declared braindead as soon as I stepped foot out of bed. At least, that USED to be the case. Dogs In Ether was the much-needed jolt of electricity that fired up my synapses and got my once-turgid blood flowing again, even though it wasn’t even my first time listening to the group’s material. I had heard about Dogs In Ether a few days before Steven had even contacted me. I dunno, maybe their music just translates better on a cassette format. Maybe I was just pissed. Either way, I was completely fuckin’ hooked by the self-titled opening track; mid-tempo, pogo-friendly drumbeats, pulpy basslines, a reverberative guitar submerged in a sea of bass tones, and a vocalist that sounds just as phlegm-ridden as I was, all of it was more than enough to get my toes tapping and head bobbing. These rhythms are RIDICOUSLY infectious, I haven’t found myself being this captivated by music in a good while. My fascination could very well be a byproduct of the circumstances; maybe the music just happened to compliment my shitty mood at that current point in time, to an extent where I enjoyed their music a lot more than I would’ve had I been in a different mindset entirely. Who knows, Dogs In Ether might not be nearly as impressive as I think they are. Regardless, they definitely sobered me the fuck up this morning, and I still find their music to be just as engrossing multiple hours after the fact. Hell, I even intended on posting something totally different today, but I decided on posting this tape instead after listening to it this morning. I enjoyed it THAT much. I didn’t even tell Steven that I was gonna dedicate a whole video to his band, I just told him that I’d throw it in a mix for sure and possibly make a video if I was into it. But at this point, I think a whole video is more than warranted. I think it’s necessary.

[Remaining paragraph of write-up is in the comments.]

TRACK LIST:
Dogs In Ether – 0:00
In Ecstasy – 1:33
2016 – 3:19
Street Tongues – 4:47

DOWNLOAD: http://dogsinether.bandcamp.com/releases