Intercept - Yellow Dog

Yellow Dog is an album that is worth a listen to if you like pop and acoustic rock. After I listened to the album through only once I thought to my self this is one heck of a good album. I enjoy listening to a lot of different genres so I am used to music that can be tolerated or listened to by certain ages but when it comes down to the point this is an album that can be really be enjoyed by all ages. Pretty well any radio station that plays Rock, Classic Rock, or Pop there is a song that could be played from this album. The album is not too soft and it isn’t too hard. The Acoustic guitars is very blemishing to the ears in Yellow Dog, it gives the songs the added touch that would be lost if an electric guitar was used. Intercept’s influences differ from artists such as Incubus, Pearl Jam, Cold Play, The Beetles, and The Dave Matthews Band. While listening to the tracks my mind couldn’t take me away from hearing a touch of Traci Chapman and Joni Mitchell. Yellow Dog clocks in at about thirty five minutes and contains eight tracks.

1. Home
2. Berlin
3. Song 32
4. On The Way
5. Fool
6. Snowed In
7. Underwater
8. Beautiful One

The Members of Intercept include Christian Knudsen on Acoustic Guitar and Vocals, Jeff Knudsen on Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar, Jason Weiner on drums, and Phil Romo on Bass.

“Home” starts up Intercepts Yellow Dog. The opening sounds are a echoing electric guitar solo. Christian’s voice is soft and is blended in with the echoing guitar. The song picks up speed and sound after about a minute. What caught my ears in this song was really the small extension of the word “Who” in the last line in the first verse.

“Maybe you're a friend of mine,
Maybe you're alone somewhere...
And I pray for you and I don't know why
Maybe I'd be better off
Thinking of someone who...”

It is the way what Christian raises and carries his voice for that small moment that makes me wait and listen when I hear the first verse play again in the song.

“On The Way” is my favourite track from Yellow Dog. The opening segment of the song stopped my finger from hitting the next track button the first time I had the album in my cd player. The opening guitar solo is the main key for this song. The same riff is played through out most of the song. The riff picks up speed and is strengthened in about the middle of the song and the new tempo is carried out through to the finish. I found this is where I really made up my mind that this song was my favourite song on Yellow Dog. The vocals are soft and strong, the vocal hits the high points where it fits into the song perfectly. The vocals are not too soft where it would be considered bubblegum pop but sits right on the borderline of pop and/or rock. To Finish out the vocals in the song Christian carries out the last note for about seven seconds, but the acoustics still go on for about 20 to finish out the song.

“Berlin” is a soft melodic vocally sound song. This song shines a soft acoustical evening performance. The song lyrics are written in an innuendo. The first contents of the lyrics are of the place Berlin but I feel and believe the real allusion is lyrics are written to be all about a woman.

“When I think of Berlin, I see her as a person,
Quite a pretty picture,
Quiet, tiny, perfect, you know --
Smiling like Candlelight.

If I was a lucky man I would have seen her coming,
Would have had a better job, would have worked up just a little style by now...
Made my body beautiful...”

“Beautiful One” is a song that is worth a mention. “Beautiful One” is where I found that the song had similarities to the vocals of Traci Chapman and Joni Mitchell. The way the vocals tend to start off a bit low and then as the vocals finish out the lyric the vocals get stronger.

There are easily two possibly three singles that can be pulled off of this album and those songs would be in my opinion “Home”, “On The Way” and “Fool”. This is one of the few acoustic albums that I own and enjoy. Because of the songs “On The Way” and “Fool” I have placed Yellow Dog along between my Days Of The New and Neil Young albums.

www.intercepttheband.com www.myspace.com/interceptmusic