Dogpark releases third EP, “Corporate Pudding”
Written by Eve Elliot
Dogpark solidifies their spot in the indie rock catalog with a bolder, more confident sound on third EP Corporate Pudding.
Dogpark has had a busy couple of years with new EP Corporate Pudding marking their third EP release since January 2024. The NYC-based group has been touring steadily since the success of the debut EP Breaking in Brooklyn, and is quickly finding their groove.
Corporate Pudding is a six-song collection jam packed with catchy guitar riffs and powerful vocal melodies. The band seems to pull from a wide net of inspiration and pays homage to several of their indie rock predecessors throughout the album. The second track, “I Don’t Mind”, uses a pounding drum beat in the chorus reminiscent of The Strokes early albums. Lead singer Eamon Moore later transitions seamlessly into a falsetto that sounds like it’s pulled directly from the Julian Casablancas guidebook. The song describes a laissez-faire type of romance set against the backdrop of a chaotic world, as Moore sings “But I don’t mind/I’ll save you from the fire/But only if you’ll hold my hand”. It feels casual and a little bit messy in classic garage rock fashion, where passion and spirit trump rigid technicality every time.
A few tracks later, Dogpark slows it down for “September”, a song about a love that you just can’t seem to hold onto. With its groove and heavy emotional anguish, “September” brings back fond memories of the Songs About Jane era of Maroon 5. The song starts out with an airy, dream-like quality to it complete with heavy synth presence that’s later transformed into angsty distorted guitar moving into the final chorus. This is the ultimate release for the heartbroken singer whose pain has been steadily building throughout the song. In the final pre-chorus he sings, “I already know what this will be like/You walk out the door/I claw and I scrape and I lose my pride”. It’s an excellent use of both lyric and music to demonstrate the evolution of Moore’s hopelessness as the relationship falls apart.
My personal favorite song on Corporate Pudding is the bluesy “75$72”. It’s sung from the perspective of a wealthy businessperson who is completely uncaring toward the people paying for his life of luxury (think Succession or Leo in The Wolf of Wall Street). The song ends with a standard blues walkdown showing that the band seems to have a true appreciation for the styles that they’re utilizing.
Dogpark manages to expertly infuse all of these influences throughout the EP without sounding redundant or losing sight of their own sound and style. Corporate Pudding is Dogpark at their most confident, with a pronounced trust in their identity as a band.
