Cross Dog’s All Hard Feelings is as noisy and sonically relentless as it is thoughtful. The album has its feet firmly planted in hardcore punk rock, but doesn’t shy away from varied influences of noise rock, heavy metal, and rock and roll. The riffs, coming from a lone bass guitar supplemented by an arsenal of effects pedals and amplifiers, are as heavy as possible without sacrificing clarity. The rhythms are pummeling and are played with the sole purpose of making listeners bang their heads. The vocals are aggressive and in-your-face, while lyrically connecting with listeners through dominant themes of social equity and mental health. Aptly titled, the lyrics journey from the public to the personal, confronting the sociological, psychological, and emotional challenges that many of us face in this life, yet do so in a way that somehow feels simultaneously universal and deeply individual.
