Richard Tripps’ Whimsically Dreamlike “Dog Days” Gives Us the Sounds of Life Outside the Endless Treadmill of Productivity

Richard Tripps, photo courtesy the artist

Richard Tripps’ ever so slightly husky voice lends an immediacy to “Dog Days” as he relates impressions of the end a time in life that feels comfortable and days pass at a leisurely pace because it’s too hot to do otherwise. But when that time ends, like a summer break or a summer vacation, you miss it a little and the people with whom you whiled-away the hours. Tripps expertly conveys that liminal moment. The percussion is light yet gives the song a vivid coherence. The synth, some of it sounding like a touch of Mellotron to give it a dreamlike haze, brings a charmingly whimsical spirit to the song and comes to the fore for an interlude before the outro. The song recalls the song “A Month of Sundays” by The Church from its underrated and top shelf 1984 album Remote Luxury and the way it conveys the way the relatively brief periods of leisure we get in life under the prevailing economic system allow us the time to stretch out our psyche to entertain the full feeling of life outside of the endless treadmill of productivity expected of us but which is antithetical to a full human life. Richard Tripps gives us a bit of that headspace with this song as well. Listen to “Dog Days” on Spotify and follow Richard Tripps on Instagram.