- If you took the names of everyone who appears on Resin Dogs’ new record, Notorious D.O.G, went flying back in time and made it so they were never born, it’s quite likely there would be no hip hop in Australia today. DJ Katch and Dave Atkins and their label Hydrofunk too have been of central importance to Australian hip hop. Are they still now? For reference, I was listening to their new record’s very first cut, Como No when guest MC EssA lays down the line “When you catch the hook / Don’t be acting shook / I bet you sing it back to me like Moloko” and I can hear the whole crowd go “WHO ARE MOLOKO!?”
It’s quite a relief that Katch and Atkins are completely cognizant of the time that’s passed. In a recent interview, Katch led with: “We've been doing a lot of soul searching; the truth is I got abducted by aliens and was transported across the galaxy. When I got back the music genres had changed, so I went away to re-discover the galactic funk that once ruled the earth and bring it back to present day 2018.” That’s exactly what they’ve done. Without a trace of trap in all fourteen cuts, the Dogs find the funk in an unexpectedly strong way. There’s been a bit of a resurgence of boom bap in the last few years, but this isn’t that. Instead Notorious D.O.G offers warm, luscious funk with tinges of latin and soul and the aforementioned boom bap. It has something in common with the best moments of the live, funky hip hop of Astro Travellers collective or the fusion sounds of Ozomatli. Staying relevant is even more of a currency in hip hop than it is to other genres ... and this really is out of date, but it’s got such a strong, musical core, it’s like it doesn’t matter at all.
It’s possible to forget that even while the sound of the beats has moved on, Resin Dogs have stayed right in the game, especially through their Hydrofunk productions, producing and releasing armfuls of records for a slew of other artists. It’s allowed them to not only maintain their chops, but improve them in a manner that can be startling. They’ve done the same for their friends: multiple guest appearances from the likes of Dialectrix and Kel On Earth sound fresh and on-point, which is frankly astounding given how long it’s been since I’ve heard them.
Even the name Notorious D.O.G shows its age, but this record also shows, even more strongly, the value of experience in fourteen cuts without an ounce of filler. The Resin Dogs take you right back to the turn of the millenium, without making you feel even a bit sad about it.
- Chris Cobcroft.