Golden Dogs in The Star

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Fittingly, the past year finished up on a positive note for the Golden Dogs. With a growing reputation as a must-see live act, the Toronto band ended 2006 performing in Halifax on New Year's Eve, opening for popular local headliner Joel Plaskett.

"That was amazing," says Golden Dogs main man Dave Azzolini. "We didn't get paid for it, but we got our flights out there, we got to sell merch and stuff and we got to play for 2,000 Joel Plaskett fans."

It was a suitable conclusion to a year bookended by a March appearance at the influential at South by Southwest (SXSW) that earned the upstarts a thumbs-up from The New York Times, which hailed the Golden Dogs' "exuberant new wave pop." While the endorsement wasn't enough to turn Azzolini's head completely, recognition in an prestigious U.S. paper with national distribution was helpful in spreading the word.

"It was good to actually have some notice in the States," Azzolini says. "We'll proudly put it in our bio that the New York Times said something nice about us because there hasn't been much American press about us. But that's all it was – a little notice.

"Like every kind of festival thing we've done in the past, it was a learning experience. SXSW, of course, is this huge, massive, crazy thing. So last year was just about getting attuned to the environment of all these bands husting around. The best part, really, was just meeting a lot of nice people from Texas and also hanging out with a lot of Canadians."

Azzolini aims to expand the circle of acquaintances when the band returns to Texas next month for a second run at SXSW. Before then, the group has a string of dates in southern Ontario and western Canada, including a show Friday at Lee's Palace.

Plans are to devote much of the coming year continuing to work Big Eye Little Eye, released by True North to positive reviews last summer.

Technically, a follow-up to 2004's Everything in Three Parts, the sophomore outing was regarded as a fresh start by a band that spent its early years solidifying its neo-wave sound and line-up.

After going through a half dozen bass players over the previous two years, the Golden Dogs are entering 2007 with a firmed-up roster including the Thunder Bay-bred Azzolini on vocals and guitar, Jessica Grassia on keyboards and vocals, drummer Taylor Knox, guitarist Neil Quin and bassist Stew Heyduk.

All but Heyduk were on hand for the focused recording session that yielded Big Eye Little Eye, a catchy, 12-song set produced by Paul Aucoin of the Hylozoists. Apart from a cover of Paul McCartney's "Nineteen Hundred and Eight-Five," Azzolini wrote the album himself, with an assist from Grassia, who is also his wife, on three of the tracks.

"The first album was very much two EPs put together over two years in jam spaces and basements and wherever else we could get our recording equipment between working and doing other stuff," Azzolini says. "Whereas this one was very concentrated, with the whole album being recorded over three weeks. Then we went over the minutae of the mixing for much longer than that, it seemed.

"Although our recorded stuff may not have the same reputation as the live show, I'm very proud of it. That's where I've always wanted to excel. I've always wanted to make great records."

[Jakis]

Good article. Can't wait for the show tonight

[zero]

Guy they're off the charts right now. That 1985 is infuckingtense. I've been frustrated about the changeover in the band over the years and Dave is really honest about it. Beau Stockton actually the first drummer and last original member to leave was at the Guelph show although I didn't talk to him.

I can totally hear the beat down quality in Azzolini's voice when he's talking in that interview. We were talking about how the first thing I ever read about him was in an Exclaim! interview where they were all the hype and he was like 'I'll believe it when I see it'. He's still saying that whether it's about the New York Times or whatever. It's been a hard road for Jessica and Dave for sure but they've earned a great ride now.

[zero]

Azzolini wrote the album himself, with an assist from Grassia, who is also his wife, on three of the tracks.

I like also how this makes it sound like Jessica's his wife on three of the tracks.