Four years after reuniting, festival favourites and re-born Britpoppers Dodgy follow-up 2012’s acclaimed album Stand Upright In a Cool Place with the release of their fifth album, What Are We Fighting For?
Self-produced by Nigel Clark, the album opens with the unusually titled ‘You Give Drugs a Bad Name’. Skim reading about the release of this pre-album track a few months back, my eyes deceived me and at first glance I was tricked into thinking Dodgy had decided to do their own version of the Bon Jovi track ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’. Indeed with love appearing to be the inspiration for many of the album tracks perhaps this was intentional. Clicking on a link to a lyric video, thoughts of ’80s hair bands were quickly extinguished with a trippy video, rocky guitar riff, alongside a chorus – “I’ve got a feeling, we’re not in Camden anymore”. The background female vocal flourishes to the forefront and is another pleasant surprise, and after a listen or two I was hooked (pun/no offence intended).
‘Now Means Nothing’ also catches me off-guard with the infectious title ringing through my head instantly and reoccurring without permission at various times later in the day. ‘California Gold’ restores some calm and as the name suggests has a breezy dreamy west coast vibe to it that spirals out of control in a guitar and harmonica infused climax. Lead single ‘Are You The One’ is throw-back to the Dodgy I remember and fans of the band will love it! It is also the first track on the album appearing to reflect on a relationship of some emotional insecurity. ’Is This Goodbye’ follows with a bitter-sweetness invoking visualizations of a vulnerable heart yearning for a loved one to return.
‘The Hills’ is another highpoint with spine-tingling harmonies that float off “beyond tomorrow” looking for hope. Again the female vocal (Vanessa Wilson, Ultrasound) is the perfect complement and adds another dimension to the track. ‘Never Stop’ picks the journey up again as Clark sings for his lives worth, “I’ll never stop showing my love”. ‘Mended Heart’ appears to signal a moving-on as I breathe a sigh of relief knowing the vulnerable heart has survived, whilst title track ‘What Are We Fighting For?’ closes the album with a positive euphoria restoring faith in life’s greatest gift; love.
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
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