The Sheepdogs return with another confident blast of nostalgia-fuelled, feel-good music.
The Sheepdogs have now been in an amazing groove of producing upbeat, West Coast-leaning blues-rock for over twenty years. Their trademark sound manages to embrace the paradox of being both nostalgic and contemporary. Keep Out of the Storm fits in perfectly to their catalogue: it feels both familiar yet fresh. It’s a great listen. The songs are plainspoken, melodic, emotionally direct and more concerned with feeling authentic than being literary. Where there’s grit, there’s also an underlying optimism.
The album begins with Nobody But You, a song about romantic commitment, two people simply being, no plan, just mutual dependence. The expression of love is simple and affecting: “Every time I see your face / I get a smile that I can’t erase / Every time I feel this way /I know I need you in every day”. The sound is pure The Sheepdogs: jangly guitar chords, quiet moments, harmonised sing-along chorus, touches of keyboards, classic guitar solo. The album begins in a comforting and warm way.
Follow-up is title track, Keep Out of the Storm, a song that musically becomes more and more urgent as it progresses. The song is an anthem about escaping destructive cycles; it is about survival, not triumph. The “storm” is never defined, but is “Like living in a bad, bad dream”, and the repeated line “I got to find another home” is a plaintive cry. I Do then introduces a slice of’ 70s-inspired pop; the “I do” line feels very familiar. It is a song of simple and compelling devotion; nothing is overcomplicated. And the joy can be seen in some of the lyrics: “I love you more than Axis: Bold as Love” makes a big claim about the affection felt.
The middle stretch of the album shifts into something more reflective. Playing All Night Long, a song about partying with a thoughtful undertone, turns the tempo down as it explores the thrill and cost of perpetual motion. Take a Look at Me Baby, an almost nihilistic song with a reckless edge, is even more laid-back. It has a dark groove, some excellent harmonies, and a soulful feel, emphasised by a brass section towards the end. The theme of love returns in the tender All I Wanna Do which expresses the simple desire to “Spend my days wasting time with you”. Bad For Your Health stands in slight contradiction: here, there is a recognition that love can also be toxic. The music here is playful; the lyrics are darker.
Three songs showcase how wonderful The Sheepdogs can be when they lean back into the music. Breezy is musically and lyrically literally that, breezy. A lovely guitar part joins with lyrics that talk about healing through connection. The Owl, a song of wisdom and maturity, is introspective and seems to draw on wider ‘70s inspiration: it is almost Pink Floyd-like in its delivery. And in another nod to an older style of music, there is also an instrumental. Yellow Line is funky, has a great guitar solo, and again makes wonderful use of a brass section.
The album ends with Out All Night, which is musically anthemic but deals with a sense of burnout and emotional confusion. At the heart is the plea, “Someone please take me home”, a line that is repeated as part of a wonderful big finish: great pace, crashing cymbals and screaming guitars.
Ultimately, Keep Out of the Storm doesn’t attempt reinvention; instead, it refines what The Sheepdogs have long done so well. This is music rooted in craft, connection and the enduring belief that a strong chorus and a well-placed guitar solo can still carry real emotional weight. Many of the songs reflect experience rather than youthful exuberance. The parties last longer, the mornings arrive sooner, and love is both sanctuary and risk. Yet the overriding feeling is resilience. The Sheepdogs may flirt with exhaustion and confusion, but ultimately, they have produced a testament to endurance, of relationships, of bands, and of a sound that still feels very much alive.
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