SONG REVIEW : A Poetic Invitation- "18" by Dogs on Shady Lane
Among the layered voices and rhythmic guitar of "18" lies a repeated statement; a judgement and in a sense, a key question about emotion and curiosities: "I'm too old to be crying so much."
"18" is a poetic invitation to not just look and question inward, but to also question the tendency of our minds to reinvestigate moments and memories. The folk song, which comes from the Providence and New York based singer songwriter Dogs on Shady Lane, allows its lyrical content spread out across lines begging for a new lens and a new viewpoint on our personal events, artifacts, and stories: "I think I feel too much I gotta give it up, I've gotta goback, to that place I've known but never been before."
18 by Dogs on Shady Lane
​The invitation itself is a homegrown sound, delightfully mixed and punctuated with newly layered instruments that come and go, keeping the track interesting and different while staying grounded to the rhythm laid out before it. When packaged in this way, creative, layered, and yet stable and accessible in its own unique tone, we seem to already know the answer to the question that its most frequent lyric proposes, especially within the current climate: Is it possible to feel too much? While we may apply measures and logic to emotions, those very feelings may feel different over time. The very fact that we're able to ask questions, indulge curiosities, and to attempt to name what we feel along with the exponential degrees of those feelings, is what makes us human, at 18, or at any age. In this way, while "I'm too old to be crying so much" may seem like a conclusion on how one should feel, "18" is actually an invitation into investigating those feelings themselves.
Proceeds from the new song, available on Bandcamp, will be given to the FANG Community Bail Fund, assisting those held on bail in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Written by Michelle DeLateur
Michelle DeLateur is a Los Angeles-based photographer, videographer, self-taught guitarist, and Packer fan who's constantly on the lookout for new vinyl. She is also a contributor to No Film School and covers events for The Knockturnal. You can check her out on Twitter and Instagram at @mdelateur or view her work at delateurmedia.com.