“We started with the mindset of, “Let’s just fucking go for it as much as we can”” remembers Mil Martinez, of the origins of Split Dogs.
Sounding like a buzzsaw you could boogie to and fronted by Harry Martinez, an absolute force-of-nature who was born to rule every stage they walked upon, the band have indeed been fucking going for it as much as they can since forming half-a-decade ago, winning fans far and wide (including the OG punk-rock peanut-butter-sando himself, Iggy Pop, who declared them “the sound of trouble” on his 6Music radio show). Now their third album Nice N ’Rough, produced by Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco has been released via Venn Records and commits their riotous ramalama to wax with a ferocity hitherto only hinted at, serving fire-breathing, butt-shaking notice to all comers that this is Split Dogs’ world, and all the other rock groups are only renting space in it.
Their mission statement is deceptively simple. “We play rock’n’roll like we loved it as kids,” says Mil. “Boogie-woogie music from the same place as Chuck Berry, Status Quo, AC/DC, even Chas’n’Dave. Foot-stomping music. We do it because we love it, and we’re not going to slow down to anyone else’s pace.”
It’s an ethos they’ve followed since they first formed in the wake of the Covid lockdowns of 2020. Both Mil and Harry had rock’n’roll histories of varying notoriety: Mil had played in bands since he was sneaking onstage at the Bull & Gate as a 13-year-old, while Harry played in bands as a teenager, before jetting off to locations like Australia and Las Vegas, where they performed in the Evil Dead musical and danced burlesque, honing their voice and stage chops.
But by the time Covid hit, Mil hadn’t played music for a decade, having long ago hung up his guitar to start his own tattoo shop in Weston-super-Mare. Rock’n’roll dreams rarely go gentle into that good night, however, and when, shortly after they’d got together, Mil and Harry screened the zombie classic Night Of The Living Dead and got to the bit where the punk kids break into the taxidermist’s and exclaim “Oh wow – split dogs!”, both thought it a killer name for a rock’n’roll group, and set it aside for possible future use. Fast-forward to lockdown, and with Mil and Harry’s tattoo parlour shuttered for the foreseeable, Mil strapped on his guitar and started writing his first new tunes in years. “And then Harry got involved,” Mil says, “and we both started writing together.”
Suez Boyle (bass) and Chris Hugall (drums) stepped aboard. Suez, who has one of the five Split Dogs tattoos Mil has inked upon fans (maybe you should get #6) was formerly a member of 90s punk juveniles Walking Abortions and met the group after their performance at the Griffstock festival, picking up a vinyl copy of their eponymous debut and a place in the band in swift succession. Chris was an old friend of Mil’s, who’d drummed in Hellcat-signed ska-punks Mouthwash in the 90s but hadn’t touched a drumkit in 10 years, and was pursuing a career in film directing when Mil called. “I’m the mad scientist in the band,” admits Mil, “geeing everyone up to ruin their lives making music.” Mil reckons Split Dogs are a solid, indestructible unit now. “We’re all hell-bent on doing this,” he says. “We’re a forever band now.”
‘Rock’n’Roll Business’ was the first volley from their third album, Nice N’ Rough. It’s bolder, brassier and even more fun than the previous albums. The new ingredients are “confidence and time”, says Mil. “We’ve not lost what we were, but we’ve evolved and tightened the screws, cleaned it up, made it a little slicker. The songs are more thought-out, and everyone’s had a hand in them.” The lyrics are brutal and funny, like great rock’n’roll is supposed to be, the likes of ‘Breaker’ and ‘Born Too Loose’ grin-inducing bangers in the lineage of Chuck Berry and AC/DC, while the frenetic frug of ‘Shake Some Action’ and the irresistible slamdance of ‘Power Out’ make like the MC5 at the Grande Ballroom NYE party as the clock strikes midnight.
“Rock’n’roll’s meant to be fun, isn’t it?” Mil says. “There aren’t enough bands doing that OTT, tongue-in-cheek thing. When I was younger, I wanted to seem cooler and tougher than I was. Now, I don’t care what people think of me, so I wear my heart on my sleeve. We’re quite shameless, really.”
Nice N’ Rough Tracklist
1. Be Somebody
2. Born Too Loose
3. Breaker
4. Get The Look
5. Speed Demon
6. Leave It Alone
7. Shake Sum Action
8. Rock ‘N’ Roll Business
9. Mamma Said
10. Suffer
11. I Wanna
12. Dirty Denim
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