''Kerbdog'' (also sometimes known as 'Totally Switched' for the US release) is

Kerbdog Kerbdog were an alternative metal band from Kilkenny, Ireland, formed in 1991. Following two albums released on Mercury Records, the band split up in 1998. Since 2005, they have reformed for a series of occasional one-off performances. In 201 ...

's eponymous debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. The album was recorded in 1993 at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and released on 28 March 1994 through Vertigo. Though the band had various indie influences, with bands like

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

and

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Nake ...

, the album ended up having a

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

influenced proto-

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

sound. The band said that this was simply the result of getting professional equipment, and turning everything up as loud as they could. What also might account for this is the fact that grunge pioneer Jack Endino recorded the album.

"If I remember right the whole thing took five weeks. No problems except that Cormac was still writing lyrics right up to the next-to-last day of mixing. Dummy Crusher was literally the last thing finished, we cut the vocal and then I mixed it next day. We had about run out of time at that point. liked almost all of it. Thought the intro to EOG should have been half as long, but band disagreed; and in retrospect I would have turned up the vocals on EOG just a teeny bit, though no one ever complained. Didn't like Xenophobia much but that didn't make the album. Thought Clock should have been a single."
''Jack Endino''

The album was fairly well received in Britain,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, reaching number 97 in the UK Albums Chart. It also got a lot of radio play on US college radio, but the album didn't do as well as expected. The album was originally released on LP, CD and cassette. It was re-released on CD in September 2012 on East World Records UK. "Kerbdog" was finally re-released on green vinyl in November 2020 on Hassle Records. There was also a clear vinyl edition, limited to 300 hand-numbered copies.

Track listing

All songs written by Kerbdog. #" End of Green" – 3:53 #" Dry Riser" – 3:59 #"Dead Anyway" – 3:58 #"Cleaver" – 3:24 #"Earthworks" – 4:11 #"

Dummy Crusher "Dummy Crusher" is a song by Kerbdog and a single released in July 1994, taken from their self titled debut album. The single was released on four different formats, two CDs, 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl. The 12" single was a limited edition picture ...

" – 3:19 #"The Inseminator" – 3:28 #"Clock" – 4:10 #"Schism" – 3:55 #"Scram" – 3:17 "Xenophobia" and "Self-Inflicted" from the album sessions were later used as b-sides for the Dry Riser single.

Personnel

Cormac Battle Cormac Battle (born 11 July 1972) is an Irish musician and radio presenter/producer. He is the vocalist and lead guitarist for the bands Kerbdog, Wilt, Jonny's Boys, and On the turn. He is also the current presenter of RTÉ 2fm's alternative musi ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Darragh Butler -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Billy Dalton -

*Colin Fennelly -

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Jack Endino -

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, Mixing *Phil Ault -

Assistant Producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Assistant Engineer Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

, Mixing Assistant *Simon Fowler -

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Freddie Sodima - Art Direction *Patrick Siemer - Design,

UK Singles

*Earthworks (demo version) (1993) *End Of Green (1993) *Dry Riser (1994) #60 *Dummy Crusher (1994) #37

References

{{Authority control Kerbdog albums 1994 debut albums Vertigo Records albums Albums produced by Jack Endino Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios