A Dog Called Ego – Paper Boat
Release Date: 27th June 2025
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Alternative Rock, Post-Rock, Grunge.
FFO: Porcupine Tree, Manchester Orchestra, Filter.
Review By: Andy Spoon
The main reason that I wanted to listen to this album was that it had a great deal of similarity to one of my favorite audiophile indie albums by The Van Pelt, Sultans of Sentiment. Once I was able to listen to the sound of Paper Boat, I was immediately happy to learn that some of the influences were right there, albeit a little more polished. However, A Dog Called Ego might disagree, citing their own influences as Pearl Jam and Porcupine Tree, which I can also see, I would also include some of the other progressive emo and even post punk/shoegaze efforts in the mix as heavy influences. If you haven’t heard music from the early days of emo music, you really need to tune in. Further, A Dog Called Ego is probably going to scratch that itch for you.
The overall sound of the band is very analog, meaning that it’s not overly-compressed, allowing each individual instrument to be very distinct in the blend. There is a fabulous left/right balance on the guitars that makes me sincerely happy to listen to. The vocal attack, or lack thereof, is smooth and often employs a double-layered melodic clean harmony that really gives hints of shoegaze. The music definitely brings an undertone which follows a more intense and serious-sounding blend, rather than being chipper or punk-y. This is where I think that the album stands a chance of reaching into the hearts of heavy metal music fans. There is an urgency and fervor that seems to pervade the album, which tends to point to progressive music, rather than pop-indie. If there is a light and dark side to the millions of subgenres of alternative indie, Paper Boat has toes in the darker side, and I like it.
Further, it’s pretty clear that the guitar effect, drum tones, and mix tend towards the darker, heavier side of this type of music, drawing elements from heavy music. In some moments, I was reminded of the girthy, brown-sounding, sludge influences like Baroness and Dvne, bands who really found a major home in the hearts of extreme metal fans. Perhaps one might categorize Paper Boat as some blend of sludge, shoegaze, and post-punk. I hope I’m not voyaging into unexplored territory in making that claim, but I’m confident I’m putting my finger on some of the important elements.
Further, I’ve been a fan of bands who employ the same type of elements (stripped-down instruments + clean/dirty battles) like Colour revolt and Manchester Orchestra for many years. I think that A Dog Called Ego absolutely joins the same parade as those acts with style and continuity. The album holds a great space in the indie/metal scene for this type of music – elementally-pure, beautifully-recorded, and full of political angst and free speech. I would absolutely recommend giving this one a spin if you’re a fan of progressive rock, sludge, shoegaze, regular indie, and noise music, as it tends to draw influences from so many genres.
(4 / 5)
