Dogsbody – Model/Actriz ★★★½

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2023	Dogsbody	Model/Actriz	★★★½	78	Rock	Noise Rock	Post Punk

Model/Actriz’s 37 minute debut record Dogsbody is dense both musically and lyrically. It’s a cool (and cold) industrial, post punk record with some sick, dancy grooves, manic, thrashing energy and a lot of tense, uncomfortable moments. 

The noise rock instrumentation almost revs like a motor, with pulsing bass lines and roaring, gritty guitars that work more rhythmically than melodically. Pitchy, screeching notes creep in and out from time to time to give an unnerving sense of dread to both explosive tracks and more subtle moments. 

Lead singer Cole Haden’s evocative poetry over and over again mentions sexual cravings as well as twisted imagery involving metal objects (knives, hooks, wire), blood (whether referencing mosquitoes as bloodsuckers or red tears), and death in the form of ghosts, bodies or dreams. There are constant reminders of darkness and nighttime, as well as references to the sun, whether it’s being blocked in the sky or providing some kind of hope or warmth. 

Of the frantic, high-energy tracks (and there’s a lot of them), “Mosquito,” “Crossing Guard,” “Slate” and “Amaranth” are the ones that I find the most captivating. The two standouts on the record though are the two that close the album. “Sleepless” is a haunting slowcore track with ambient-influenced electronics and droning guitars furiously strumming in the distance that slowly bury Haden’s echoing vocals. “Sun In” feels almost like a song to play over the closing credits of a horror movie, with eerie, yet warm, guitar chords and a highly-emotional vocal performance that seems accepting and ready to move on in any way he needs to. A high-pitched ring that holds through the last part of the track serves as a warm ending note. That same exact note had opened the top of the record, but with a much more sinister feeling, which is an interesting little detail that I thought was clever on repeated listens. 

I appreciate the overall sounds and energy of Dogsbody — like a Nine Inch Nails work that’s somehow darker — but feel like the mix is too noisy and not melodic enough for me to really appreciate the full intricacy of Model/Actriz’s work. And, Because of its relentless darkness and unnerving feeling, I don’t think I’d say it’s an “enjoyable” listen or something I’ll crave going back to too often, but it’s absolutely interesting and worthwhile to check out.