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EL DOGHOUSE
Howl
Gaztelupeko Hotsak, 2008

Many years have gone by since Richard Dulanski met a fellow named John Graham Mellor – who at the time went by the nickname Woody – in a West London squat. The first played the drums, while the second was one of those guys you run into from time to time playing in the street. They both formed a group they called The 101'ers – the address number of the squat they were currently occupying. Woody would later go on to call himself Joe Strummer and create The Clash - a seminal band not only in the punk movement, but in 20th century rock n roll in general. Meanwhile, Richard continued to play drums with such important bands as PIL, The Raincoats and Basement 5, until he moved to Spain – specifically Granada – at the end of the 80’s.
Tom Lardner arrived in Spain in 1990, leaving behind his native New York/New Jersey. After some time in Madrid, he formed La Pocilga del Tío Tom (Uncle Tom’s Pigpen), a garage-bluegrass, or rapid-fire-country band. After eight years, he left the capital city for the sun of Granada. There he put together another group – the Country Dogs – once again focusing on his acoustic roots. At one of their concerts, Richard approached Tom with the idea of playing drums with the band. Within two weeks they were busy rehearsing in Tom’s garage, and when the Country Dogs dissolved, they decided to keep playing together.

That same period, around the end of 2002, saw the sudden death of Joe Strummer, and Richard decided to organize two tribute concerts – one in London and the other in Granada, Spain - for his good friend. He reunited the remaining members of the group, and asked Tom Lardner to take on the role of Joe Strummer – whom he rather strongly resembled. After overcoming some early reservations, within fifteen days Tom found himself in Joe Strummer’s shoes, learning most of the 101ers repertory. Those two concerts left both musicians wanting to create music together – to do something more deeply based in rock. Out of this El Doghouse was born in 2004, with the band recording and bringing out its first album In Heat in 2005. The album, full of powerful rock, blues and punk, was released by Andalucía Records, set up by Richard and Joe in 1981 in order to put out the 101ers only album.
Richard and Tom are two rock veterans who continue to enjoy the music as though they’d just begun playing yesterday. Rock is a big part of their lives, and they transmit that feeling through the passion behind their music – music that goes beyond current fashions and that eludes any kind of easy categorization. Urgent, forceful, direct and furious rock – made in the punk spirit. For the recording of Howl, El Doghouse’s, second album, the trio’s work was rounded out with the work of guitarist Julian Kanevsky (Andres Calamaro, La Cabra Mecánica), and boasted the collaboration of violinist Tymon Dogg (The 101'ers and The Mescaleros - Joe Strummer’s last group – among others. This is an album full of rock & roll, punk-rock, funk, psychedelia, folk, reggae, blues, garage...all the music that Richard and Tom have been soaking up since their youth. It has elements of 101'ers (with a 101ers cover included, Rabies from the Dogs of Dove), as well as the Ramones, The Doors, Wilko Johnson, etc. At the same time it is pure El Doghouse. Whether scratching or caressing, one can hear the spirit flow through the veins and shake the heart itself.