''Melee'' is the only studio album by American post-hardcore band,

Dogleg Dogleg or dog-leg may refer to: * Dogleg (band), an American indie rock band *Dog-leg (stairs), a configuration of stairs which includes a half-landing before turning and continuing upwards *Dog-leg gearbox, an unusual manual transmission layout ...

. The album was released on March 13, 2020 through

Triple Crown Records Triple Crown Records is a New York-based rock music record label created in 1997 by Fred Feldman. The label features such artists as The Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter, ''Artists Page'' and launched the career of Brand New in 2001.> ...

. Two singles were released prior to the album's release: "Fox" in late 2019, and "Kawasaki Backflip" in early 2020. The album was met with critical acclaim, with critics praising the album's ambitious sound, energy, and cultural relevance.

Background

Following the release of their last extended play, '' Remember Alderaan?'', Dogleg began extensively touring across their home state of Michigan and across the American Midwest in promotion of their first two EPs. The success and local popularity of the band caught the attention of

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

, who recruited the band to perform at 2018 SXSW. Subsequently, the band signed in 2019, with

, and began working on a full-length studio album in the summer and fall of 2019. Recording was undertaken at lead singer, Alex Stoitsiadis's, home in

Rochester, Michigan Rochester is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census. It is a northern suburb in Metro Detroit located 20 miles north of the city of Detroit. Rochester was the first European settleme ...

. The album was formally announced on February 7, 2020 with their second single, "Kawasaki Backflip".

Release and promotion

The album was released during the onset of lockdowns associated with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The tour was postponed by 18 months with the first show to be on September 10, 2021 and the final show by on November 14, 2021.

Critical reception

''Melee'' was critically acclaimed by contemporary music critics upon release. On review aggregator website, ''Album of the Year'', ''Melee'' has an average score of 80 out of 100 based on three critics. Konstantina Buhalis, writing for ''New Noise'' magazine gave the album a perfect score of five stars out of five. Buhalis felt that "Dogleg’s impressive ability to craft gut-wrenching punk is only one of their talents, as this record proves. Beyond their poignant lyricism is their technical expertise, taking traditional, Midwest emo and elevating it." Ian Cohen, writing for ''

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'' praised the album, giving it the "Best New Music" designation. Cohen said that "the thrilling debut from the Detroit rock band burns hot and bright. It’s a record that’s as melodic as it is physical, where pent-up aggression turns into physical liberation." Cohen stated that "''Melee'' effectively advocates for a binary of taste: There is rock music that slaps and rock music that does not, the latter of which should not be given any attention."

Accolades

Track listing

References

External links

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''Melee''
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{{Authority control 2020 debut albums Triple Crown Records albums Dogleg (band) albums