Kirk Ridge

Like playing a long-misplaced album by Americana / Roots Rock stalwarts, NRBQ,
Black Dog Syndrome’s debut CD, “Isolate the Cue” is at once both familiar
and bracingly new.

Over the course of 12 original tracks “Isolate the Cue” explores the myriad of secluded and obscure estuaries that make up the best of Americana; that is, the kind of smart and provocative elements of rock, R&B, blues, jazz, and other Southern influences that fires the imagination. In the biting sax tone of lead track “Hungry Dog,” the incendiary guitar of “Driving With Her Knees,” and the imagery-rich lyrics of “Steps of Hell,”a listener hears the components that made artists like The Bottle Rockets, B-52’s, Firewater and Southern Culture on the Skids so original and compelling.

Eleven of the songs feature Kirk Ridge’s corrosive vocals to deliver taut and acerbic tales from America’s back roads, while co-lead vocalist Kimmie Wilson takes the helm on the engaging “Wounded,” offering up the kind of sing-along melodicism of Tom Petty’s finest work. Co-produced by legendary engineer Mitch Easter, Black Dog Syndrome’s “Isolate the Cue” is that kind of intriguing debut CD that’s sure to satisfy.

-Rice B. and the RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team
- RadioIndy.com