In 1975, Pavlov’s Dog burst onto the progressive rock scene, combining the mellotron and the strange and high warble of David Surkamp. Their first tow albums, Pampered Menial and If The Sound Of The Bell, attracted fans of Yes, King Crimson, Roxy Music and Steely Dan. But the band didn’t stick around long enough to enjoy the accolades and broke up in 1977. Flash forward to 2011, and Pavlov’s Dog have returned with The Adventures Of Echo & Boo And Assorted Small Tails, the St. Louis-based band’s first in 35 years!
Beginning with the awfully pretty “Angeline”, lead by Abbie Hainz’s great violin as well as Phil Gomez’s piano, we’re easily lead into “Angel’s Twilight Jump.” The jaunty “I Love You Still” is next, with a nice strong vocal, but it’s on “I Don’t Do So Good Without You” where things really start smoking. This is simply a fantastic song with Keith Moyer’s flugel horn giving it a truly contemporary feel and Sara Surkamp countering David’s vocal perfectly.
The title track is a fun ethereal stab at nursery rhyming, with a full-on Genesis-like middle. The centerpiece of the record, “The Death Of North American Industry Suite,” is a pretty interesting mélange of four different movements, including a quick rendition of “Oh Suzanna” that’s built round Surkamp’s unique voice. For the most part, this suite is full of sounds effects until we get to the last part, the Dixieland-sounding march of “Ava Gardner’s Bust.”
Bill Franco is wailing on guitar on “Calling Out For Mine” with Surkamp managing some subtler acoustic guitar openings on the pretty “We All Die Alone.” The there’s “Jubilation,” which sees the first really great use of Franco and Phil Gomez’s spot-on-ivory tickling and Michael McElvain providing the same on the most fully realized and final tune, “I Don’t Need Magic Anymore”.
Surkamp has a hint of Chris de Burgh and a smidgen of Mike Scott of the Waterboys (especially with all the violin). He and original drummer Mike Safron were making music like this — in and out of Pavlov’s Dog — quite a bit before mostly anyone else around today. Which makes all the sweeter seeing Pavlov’s Dog back with The Adventures Of Echo & Boo And Assorted Small Tails. Hopefully, the reunion will last longer than the first go-around.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
