Dashdown: "Jaguar" (2025) CD Review

In late January, singer and songwriter Dave Ashdown released a book of his lyrics titled Lyrics From The Heartland, that book featuring lyrics from his work in the band Waiting For Henry as well as his solo output, which he records under the name Dashdown (usually written as dASHDOWN these days). The four songs of his new EP, Jaguar, are included in that book, so folks were able to read the lyrics before hearing those songs, and perhaps develop their own ideas of how the songs might sound. The EP has since been released, so now those folks have a chance to discover if their own ideas were close to what was recorded. As for me, in some cases, different lines stood out while listening to these songs than when reading the book. Dave Ashdown plays guitar, bass and drums on these tracks. Rich Ashdown is on lead guitar.

The EP opens with "Rock & Roll Healer." We hear a single bell sound at the beginning, and then the song kicks in, quickly becoming a good, raw rock number, and we hear that bell once again in the background. "There you go, you're a dreamer/Bustin' loose from a parking meter/Set your intentions and hit the road." There is a straight-ahead movement to this song, a rock song without adornment, but with some strong work on electric guitar. That's followed by "Capes." When I was reading the lyrics, the nod to Chuck Berry stood out for me, the line "Go ahead, tell Tchaikovsky the news," and I wondered if this one might have that kind of early rock and roll vibe. And while there is a definite rock thing involved here, particularly in its driving beat and some of the guitar work, the vocal approach is actually more relaxed, even warm. And it is that vocal performance that really pull us into this one. That Chuck Berry line passes, and other lines stand out for me. "We all been fakes/And we all been flakes/And we all wear capes," he sings. Interestingly, the lines in the book are "We all been flakes/We all been fakes/But we all wear capes." This track ends up being my personal favorite.

"Holograms" comes on with a much heavier vibe at the start, and features a raw vocal performance. This one too has some variations from what is presented in the book, a re-ordering of some lines. "All you devils/looking at me/Gypsy eyes/Don't want to believe." And a line that jumps out at me each time I listen to this track is "Don't know what I'm gonna do." That might be a sign of our times as much as the power of the song. Does any of us know what he or she is going to do? This track contains a nice guitar lead just before the end. The end then seems to come rather suddenly. The EP concludes with "Shiny Things." There is a delicious rock and roll excitement to this song, and certainly something of that garage rock appeal. It has the raw power of a live track. And check out these lyrics: "Planets go round constantly/Stardust smile, yeah, wouldn't you agree/It's wishful, it's so serene/Checking out my new machine/Planets collide eventually."

CD Track List

1. Rock & Roll Healer
2. Capes
3. Holograms
4. Shiny Things

Jaguar was released on March 13, 2025.