High Speed Secrets

Some names aren't really misleading; they're more ironic than anything. Lou Dog (as opposed to Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tim Dog, or Nate Dogg) sounds like a hip-hop name, but the Philadelphia-based rocker is far from hardcore rap or even rap-rock; his specialty is neo-garage rock. And by calling himself Lou Dog, he is being clever and ironic (as opposed to misleading). Once you get past the novelty of a garage rocker using a hip-hop-like name, you have to ask the tough question: Does his music hold up? And, in fact, it holds up enjoyably well on High Speed Secrets. Recorded in 2003, this five-song EP isn't groundbreaking by early 2000s standards. Lou Dog's basic recipe — Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, and Bob Dylan meet the Replacements and the Kinks — isn't complicated, but it's effective and inspired. Anyone who appreciates the raw, infectious neo-garage energy of the Strokes and their Big Apple colleagues should have no problem getting into tough, gritty tracks like "Suspicion of Adults (Wanna Be Loved)" and "Strangled By the Same." However, it should be noted that Lou Dog (who co-produced this EP with Bogdan Hernik) was bringing garage rock to the Philly scene before the Strokes became popular, so you can't accuse him of jumping on a bandwagon in the hope of making some easy money. You can, however, accuse him of doing his part to keep gutsy, riff-driven garage rock alive. Rocket science? No. Innovation? Not in the 21st century. Sincere and likable? Most definitely.