Cassette Review: Dogs in Reverse "1917"

[$4 // https://dogsinreverse.bandcamp.com/album/1917]

I'm not sure why, but I feel like I've heard of Dogs in Reverse before.   It's that kind of name that sticks with you and I feel like it was part of that Museum of Microcassette Art even without looking it up to confirm.  Though upon searching MOMA on Bandcamp, I couldn't find Dogs in Reverse, though I was overwhelmed once again by all the great names to be found there.   So what is it that makes this name feel so familiar to me?

Not withstanding that, "1917" begins with an audio clip and then goes into this quiet ringing.   It's the sound of footsteps or some type of banging and then muffled background talking.    Pianos, I believe, are manipulated to sound like the warping of the cassettes and then X-Files sounding sonar beeps come out.

This all comes out rather loudly through some bliss-filled pianos and guitar riffs aside them that make me feel like we're in a pulp detective novel.   Any minute, I expect a voice to come on and tell me about "the beat" and "working a case" and "dames".    It really just begins to grow louder, swirling around and becoming all that you can hear-- blocking out all other sounds.

An audio clip, someone saying something at least, takes us into a deeper level of bass drone.    This certainly feels like we're travelling to the bottom of the ocean as bits of sharpness pierce through the surface.     Sonar comes through now and it can begin to sound like whale songs.    We dive deeper into the darkness and I can still only think that we are underwater, but perhaps running into some danger.   It might not be sharks or an octopus even, but just the general idea that we are running out of air and our foot is caught.   We need to free it so we can get back to the surface before we die.   It has that feeling of suspense.

On the flip side we open with a crowd talking and piano keys.   A singular voice begins to speak as well and I can never tell if these things are field recordings, audio samples or simply speaking intentionally for this cassette.   The man begins to talk about how his preaching is a lie and everything will all be gone.    It has the tones of doom like Godzilla.  He begins to talk about divorce as angelic tones lift us up and I find that rather interesting.

So recently- if I can get on my soapbox here for a moment- The Pope said that divorce is no longer a sin and that it will be taken on a case-by-case basis.    Do you know how much unwinding this can cause in the church?  Think about it: you have to present your case now to your reverend guy as to why you should be allowed to get a divorce ~in the eyes of God~.    So you can say, "Well, look, I have these reasons", the pastor can say, "No, it is not enough" and then you can come back in six weeks and present a new case until it becomes enough.   I don't like this type of bargaining, but hey, it's why I'm not a Catholic.

But what else is a major sin like divorce in the Catholic church?   Think about those for a minute (stealing, murder, lies, etc.)  What if those began to unravel and were taken on a case-by-case basis as well?  Sure, murder should be on a case-by-case basis any way because if it's in self defense ("What was I supposed to do-- die?") you can't really fault someone but then it turns into a grey area.   Yes, the Catholic church is finally catching up with the 21st century it would seem and realizing that the world is not black and white.

Following my ideas of religion, the music takes a turn into the sounds ghosts being stuck inside of the cassette.   Back to Godzilla, then record scratching whirrs bring about dark, ominous tones.   Sampled singing brings about space trippy whirrs, which in some way go on for quite some time only with different variations and some times lasers added in.