Pull Like A Dog Is About Force, Not Genre
The easiest way to write about The Scratch is to reach for the shortcut: Irish trad meets metal. It is also the least interesting way.
Yes, the Dublin four-piece clearly carry Irish music in their bones. Yes, they come from heavy backgrounds. Yes, there are acoustic guitars, cajon, percussion, gang vocals, riffs, and all the intensity you could want. But Pull Like A Dog, their newly released third full-length, feels bigger than a genre mash-up. It feels physical. Like the songs are being pushed, dragged, and sweated into shape right in front of you.
That instinct is exactly where lead singer and percussionist Daniel Lang says the band operates from.
Daniel Lang: "I think that sums it up nicely actually. We've never really related to the 'trad metal' label to be honest, but at the same time we've also struggled to put a name on what it is we're doing. When we write, a lot of times the intention behind a song is how it's gonna make someone feel in a live setting. Is this riff gonna inspire someone to move their body? Or is this melody or lyric gonna take you somewhere during the softer points of the set. But mainly we just follow our instincts and latch on to sounds or vibes that excite us. We're not arsed sticking to any genres anymore. It just kills the buzz and bums us out when we try."
That answer is the whole record in miniature. Pull Like A Dog does not sound like a band trying to prove its hybrid credentials. It sounds like a band trusting force, movement, and feel over taxonomy.
The Scratch are heavier now, but not because they forgot subtlety
One of the most impressive things about The Scratch has always been how much weight they can pull out of instruments that, on paper, should not hit this hard. Acoustic guitars, hand percussion, cajon, layered voices - there is no obvious distortion crutch to hide behind. And yet the band routinely lands with the power of something much louder.
For Lang, that came from the band's actual developmental path. They did not start acoustic because they were trying to be quaint. They got there after the electric-heavy world that came before them, and that history still shapes how they think about impact.
Daniel Lang: "I think the natural progression of the band from fully acoustic, to acoustics with amps was the key factor there. By the time the amps came along we had a good grasp on what we could achieve with just acoustics, then coupling that with our background in metal made for a well-rounded knowledge base on how to get the most from either end of the spectrum."
That is part of what makes Pull Like A Dog feel so complete. It does not fetishize either side of the band's identity. It understands how to hit from both ends.
From Red Enemy to Pull Like A Dog
Part of the record's charge comes from the fact that The Scratch have already lived one musical life before this one. The band emerged from the ashes of Dublin metal outfit Red Enemy, but instead of simply continuing down the expected electric road, they stripped everything back and rebuilt from a different angle. That reversal still matters on Pull Like A Dog.
The album sounds like it remembers the metal roots, but also understands the discipline, humor, closeness, and physicality that came from building songs without relying on brute volume first. You can hear a band that learned how to make a room erupt before it ever had the luxury of doing it the easy way.
The live-show problem: stop trying to copy it, make a great record instead
The Scratch have a reputation as one of those bands you are supposed to see live if you want the full picture. Sweaty, communal, loose, explosive - that is part of the mythology around them now. But one of the smartest things Lang said in our exchange is that the band has stopped trying to force a studio album to imitate a live gig exactly.
Daniel Lang: "That's still an ongoing battle for us, although I feel like we're getting closer with every album. Something that was helpful to accept though was that they're two different things at the end of the day. There's no use busting your arse trying to make an album sound like a live gig experience. We found that our time is better served trying to make a bangin' album that stands on its own. Of course we're gonna draw from the live show when we're dialling in sounds, but it's not the be all and end all for us. Not anymore anyway lol"
That is a deceptively important shift. It is the difference between capturing energy and chasing a ghost. Pull Like A Dog works because it sounds like a record made by a live band, not a desperate attempt to bottle the live room exactly as-is.
The emotional pressure point is "Mother Of God"
For all the movement and release built into the album, there is pressure in it too - the pressure to keep going, to not lose shape, to land the thing properly without sanding off what made it matter in the first place.
When Music Coast asked which song felt the most emotionally difficult to finish, Lang pointed to "Mother Of God."
Daniel Lang: "I think the tune that took the longest to get over the line was Mother Of God. It had all the ingredients for a banger but we struggled to find a way to make it land. When we finally decided on a structure that worked, the task of getting the vocals right seemed just as challenging. Wanting to get the layers and phrasing right but not getting carried away at the same time. The lyrics are that bit more personal for me on that track too so I reeeeaaaally wanted to get it right. Buzzin' off the result though."
That tension - wanting the song to hit hard without over-decorating it - feels central to the whole album. The Scratch are not just trying to be intense. They are trying to make the intensity land.
What U.S. listeners should actually listen for
It would be easy for American listeners to approach The Scratch as novelty first: a band with Irish signifiers, heavy tendencies, and a sound that should not technically work but absolutely does. Lang's response to that kind of distance is simpler and better than any pitch line.
Daniel Lang: "Get down to a show. If your mood isn't feeling a few shades lighter at the end of it we'll give you your money back. (We will not give you you're money back)"
That joke still says something real. The Scratch may be musically complex, but the emotional logic is not. The point is release. The point is to leave feeling lighter, even if the route there involves weight, aggression, grief, or a room full of people yelling themselves hoarse together.
The one rule that keeps the chaos useful
For a band that should, on paper, be a mess, The Scratch have gotten remarkably good at making the chaos feel purposeful. So we asked Lang what rule actually keeps the whole thing from tipping over.
Daniel Lang: "Follow the nose of inspiration no matter where it takes you, and remember to leave space for the others to do the same."
That line might be the cleanest description of The Scratch yet. Follow the spark. Leave room. Do not over-explain the thing to death. It is a better philosophy than a genre tag, and a better way to hear Pull Like A Dog too.
Why Pull Like A Dog feels like a real current chapter, not just another release
This album lands at a moment when The Scratch feel more visible than ever. Pull Like A Dog arrived as a 10-track, 40-minute album, and the band is carrying it through a packed live schedule that includes UK dates this spring, an Irish summer show at Iveagh Gardens in Dublin, and a North American run in May that hits cities including New York, Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
That context matters. This is not a band releasing a record into a vacuum. They are building around it in real time, which makes Lang's answers hit even harder: The Scratch are not trying to become a live band. They already are one. Now they are trying to make records that can stand beside that reality without living in its shadow.
Full Music Coast Interview with Daniel Lang of The Scratch
1. A lot of people describe The Scratch as Irish trad meeting metal, but Pull Like A Dog feels more physical than genre-based - like the songs are being pushed, dragged, and sweated into shape. When you are writing, do you think more in terms of genre, or in terms of force, weight, and momentum?
Daniel Lang: "I think that sums it up nicely actually. We've never really related to the 'trad metal' label to be honest, but at the same time we've also struggled to put a name on what it is we're doing. When we write, a lot of times the intention behind a song is how it's gonna make someone feel in a live setting. Is this riff gonna inspire someone to move their body? Or is this melody or lyric gonna take you somewhere during the softer points of the set. But mainly we just follow our instincts and latch on to sounds or vibes that excite us. We're not arsed sticking to any genres anymore. It just kills the buzz and bums us out when we try."
2. Heavy music usually gets its power from volume and distortion, but The Scratch often make acoustic guitars, cajon, percussion, and group vocals feel just as heavy. On Pull Like A Dog, was there a moment where you realized restraint or space could hit harder than making something bigger?
Daniel Lang: "I think the natural progression of the band from fully acoustic, to acoustics with amps was the key factor there. By the time the amps came along we had a good grasp on what we could achieve with just acoustics, then coupling that with our background in metal made for a well-rounded knowledge base on how to get the most from either end of the spectrum."
3. The band has a reputation as a live act first - sweaty, communal, unpredictable. What was the hardest part of getting that kind of room energy into a studio recording without making it feel too polished or too controlled?
Daniel Lang: "That's still an ongoing battle for us, although I feel like we're getting closer with every album. Something that was helpful to accept though was that they're two different things at the end of the day. There's no use busting your arse trying to make an album sound like a live gig experience. We found that our time is better served trying to make a bangin' album that stands on its own. Of course we're gonna draw from the live show when we're dialling in sounds, but it's not the be all and end all for us. Not anymore anyway lol"
4. Pull Like A Dog sounds like a record with a lot of pressure in it: pressure to keep moving, pressure to survive, pressure to not fall apart. What song on the album felt the most emotionally difficult to finish, and what finally unlocked it?
Daniel Lang: "I think the tune that took the longest to get over the line was Mother Of God. It had all the ingredients for a banger but we struggled to find a way to make it land. When we finally decided on a structure that worked, the task of getting the vocals right seemed just as challenging. Wanting to get the layers and phrasing right but not getting carried away at the same time. The lyrics are that bit more personal for me on that track too so I reeeeaaaally wanted to get it right. Buzzin' off the result though."
5. For listeners in the U.S. who may not have grown up around Irish trad music, what do you hope they hear beyond the novelty of the sound? Is there something in the humor, aggression, rhythm, or storytelling that you think translates even if someone does not know the cultural roots?
Daniel Lang: "Get down to a show. If your mood isn't feeling a few shades lighter at the end of it we'll give you your money back. (We will not give you you're money back)"
6. The Scratch has always sounded like a band that should not technically work on paper, but absolutely does once you hear it. At this point, what is the one rule within the band that keeps the chaos from becoming a mess?
Daniel Lang: "Follow the nose of inspiration no matter where it takes you, and remember to leave space for the others to do the same."
The Music Coast takeaway
Pull Like A Dog is not interesting because it blends Irish music and metal. Plenty of people will stop there. What makes it worth staying with is that The Scratch seem far more interested in force than fusion - what moves a body, what lightens a mood, what lands hard, what leaves space, what survives the jump from room to record without dying in translation.
Daniel Lang's answers only make that clearer. The band is not trying to solve itself into a neat label. It is trying to stay inspired, stay open, and make something bangin' enough to stand on its own.
That is a better ambition anyway.
