THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cross Dog is a noisy, experimental, bass-driven hardcore punk band from Peterborough, Ont. Their new album (and first for Stomp), All Hard Feelings, was recorded at High Wattage Cottage, produced and engineered by Scott Middleton (ex-Cancer Bats), and features guest appearances by The Anti-Queens.
All Hard Feelings is as sonically relentless as it is thoughtful. It has its feet firmly planted in hardcore punk rock, but doesn’t shy away from varied influences of noise rock, heavy metal, and rock ’n’ roll. 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.
Vocalist Tracy A opens up about the latest focus track, Enemy, which was “written during a dark period, but as someone who is always irritatingly optimistic (evidently, even in the throes of depression), I am forever reminding myself that things will get better.
“Anyone who has suffered from depression knows how hard it is to be in the liminal space of apathy — the compounding heartbreak of the things you love failing to bring you joy, and feeling powerless against it. Even on my worst days, there is something in me that simply loves being alive — a tiny little spark or reminder is sometimes all that we need to put one foot in front of the other until suddenly, we’re standing somewhere entirely different. Everything changes; and that includes the hard shit (or the hard feelings, as it were). This song is about finding the resolve to just stay alive, one minute at a time, until things inevitably change.”
