Christgau on The Hounds

They were great. But thing is, as far as I can tell, they were at least partially marketed as new wave -- hence, their inclusion on that (totally misnamed) 7-inch CBS No Wave promo sampler, with the (L.A.) Beat, Jules and the Polar Bears, and the Sinceros. (Also, in the late '70s, their name sort of sounded new wave, in a "The Cars" kind of way.)

Yeah, I guess plural band names like "The [Nouns]" kinda evoked the early 60s same as skinny ties did.

Favourite tracks: "Bite the Dog" and "Janine Tangerine"

They were no Aerosmith, that is for sure, that is too bad.

xp Actually though, come to think of it, on both album covers they're called simply "Hounds" -- no "The."

Played the first album yesterday, and the tracks I liked most were probably "Drugland Weekend" ("hey city boy, your city looks like someone took a dump/Guess we can't complain the way you get around the bumps"); "Bad Blood Betwen Us" (starts out kind of like "Blitzkrieg Bop" then gets heavier, also it's about getting into a fight with a "punk", though not a punk rocker -- just a greasy-haired creep in bar who won't shut up); and "The Alleys Of Love" (teen groupie "doing the pogo" then a recommendation that Jimmy Carter snort cocaine.) The "pogo" line, at least, suggests they were aware of punk rock. Fourth place: "Bite The Dog."

All sounds kinda Dictators-like.