Album Review: The Winery Dogs – Hot Streak
2 min read
The Winery Dogs have spent the past two years touring the globe in support of their debut album The Winery Dogs. While playing well over 100 shows the band found themselves itching to record some new material and so decided to record Hot Streak, their sophomore album. It’s traditional rock’n’roll at it’s snappiest yet it never alienates and is sure to please everyone – especially those who choose the mosh pit over the seating area.
Although they’re new to the scene as a trio, their experience is extensive as they’ve contributed to some of the biggest names and bands in rock. Drummer Mike Portney has worked with Dream Theatre; Billy Sheehan has played bass for David Lee Roth and guitarist/lead vocalist Richie Kotzen has lent his perfectly raspy vocals to Poison. It’s with the combination of their experience and undeniable talent that enables them to produce such an accomplished and slick sound on only their second effort.
Beginning with the single Oblivion, the perfect opener, it’s a chorus heavy collection of tunes that will have you screaming the words. It rarely comes up for air – the headbangers dream Captain Love and The Bridge are hard and heavy – until it slows down with the introspective acoustics of Fire and Think It Over which perfectly balance the album with just the right amount of edge and ballad.
They may look like magicians (the album cover hilariously furthers this) but they are not playing around. Winery Dogs have come back full-throttle with Hot Streak and are ready to reclaim music from electronic, auto-tuned hell. In the process, they’re treating the lost fans of rock n’ roll to the perfect nostalgic road soundtrack whilst rejuvenating a genre that perhaps has been left in the wrong hands for way too long.
