Pavlov’s Dog came to prominence in the 1970s as a downtime project for producers Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman, of BÖC fame.
Cut adrift from non-existent stardom they are now the sole province of satanic chorister David Surkamp and original PD drummer Mike Safron. They still create an unearthly sound, redolent of fairy tales for the nervously inclined.
Opener Angeline is generically Dog-ish, except they’ve swapped rocking out for a sepia-tinted American folk opera approach; probably what Surkamp aspired to all along. The central Death Of North American Industry Suite is excellent – a quirky Dixieland construction with a too brief integration of Stephen Foster’s Oh Susanna – while other tunes like Calling Out For Mine and We All Die Alone slip around it with childlike grace.
Pavlov’s Dog’s time may finally have arrived – if the ad agencies get close to fingering their collar.
