Puppy
The hard-hitting rock trio on DIY ethics, the joys of 90s rock and avoiding mine shafts.
Some people will do anything for their art. Which is why Londonbased three-piece Puppy found themselves spending an exhausting day lugging an entire camera rig and back line up and down a mine shaft while making a DIY video for their song Beast, all in the name of creative control.
“We’re control freaks,” explains singer/guitarist Jock Norton. “It was one of the worst days of our lives, but then we saw the video back and we were glad we did it. But we’ve decided to stay out of mine shafts for the rest of our musical career. That was our drummer Billy’s idea. We didn’t talk to him for a couple of days after it. We’ve always been in our own little world and done everything for ourselves, so when we signed with Spinefarm we were keen to keep up with that, because we know we’ll get something we like at the end of the day.”
It’s a love of the Beastie Boys and a childhood spent obsessively watching music videos on MTV that’s inspired their visual side, but the musical touchstones are clearly signposted too. Puppy – completed by drummer Billy Howard and bassist Will Michael – have a magpie’s eye for treasure and an infectious sense of fun, which come together in their debut full-length album The Goat, an unlikely but winning combination of grunge melodies, powerpop choruses and metal riffs. With nods to Weezer, Pantera, Helmet, Foo Fighters and a whole lot more besides, it feels like it’s travelled through time from the height of the 90s.
“Will’s brother is about ten years older than him, and he was constantly passing him cassettes of grunge music,” says Norton. “The nineties was a really experimental time in mainstream rock. Me and Billy were in more indie-leaning bands beforehand. We loved how an indie band like Pavement can have a bit of humour in there, or Weezer having weird doo-wop breakdowns in their songs. It’s a really fine line, not being jokey but also not po-faced serious. Musically we’re trying to be quite broad.”
With Michael joining old school friends Norton and Howard three years ago after an apprenticeship in doom and stoner bands, Puppy represented their chance to break free of restrictions, deliberately, determinedly and joyfully failing to fit in with any current scene, which means they’ve been able to tour with bands as diverse as Kvelertak, King 810 and CKY.
“We lost any desire to fit in anywhere musically,” says Norton. “Our big goal was to just to keep pushing ourselves. And there were times when we’d go: ‘This is a bit mental, it doesn’t really make sense.’ But it’s cool that we’re in relatively unchartered territory here. It makes it really fun, and being your own compass to what’s good and what’s not, it’s a lot more rewarding.”
They say that every dog has its day, and Puppy’s may well have arrived. EJ
“We lost any desire to fit in anywhere musically. We just
kept pushing ourselves.”