EP Review: THERAPY DOG ‘Spilling Milk and Getting Ants’

Spilling Milk and Getting Ants is the debut EP from Melbourne Indie Rock band, Therapy Dog. The project’s creator, frontman and singer songwriter Josh Hicks, started Therapy Dog as a more personal, intimate outlet for his own music, while remaining a member of another Melbourne Rock band, Useless Spaceman. Heavily influenced by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Smith Street Band, Counting Crows and Matchbox Twenty, Therapy Dog is the result of what Josh describes as his “failure to imitate them”; the music drenched in heartache, reflection on life and love, current social issues, the pursuit of happiness, hope and self improvement. Since the beginning of Therapy Dog, the one man band has evolved to three, with singer songwriter Damon Langley and Liz Lea joining Josh to play bass and lead guitar respectively.
The debut EP was written, recorded, mixed and mastered by Josh with a laptop and simple set up. Evolving from an EP that was originally meant to be a single/B-Side creation, Spilling Milk and Getting Ants was created and developed into a five track record for a more “well rounded piece”. Like the band name, it seems the EP has a true, organic focus on the psyche, truth, personal growth, happiness and mental health especially. During the five tracks, we see a shift in this psyche of the narrator, who was once an uncertain, self degrading, almost self deprecating caterpillar, now a little self affirming, growing butterfly escaping its cocoon into the big wide world.

The initial track, Breathe In, Breathe Out, is a near four minute track purely fueled by Indie Rock with a ballad twist. The track is incredibly self reflecting about life and relationships, with a small taste of self depreciation. The slow ballad builds slowly to a heavy rock instrumental led by the electric guitar and a strong, hammering backline.

“Just breathe in and breathe out…”

Keeping Up Appearances is a four and a half minute track, immediately led by the electric guitar. The melodic accompaniment almost engulfs the vocals to a point where you can barely hear the lyrics of the song in the beginning, but it eventually evens out again and the ballad style melody perfectly accompanies the lyrics of reflection, anti social situations, anxiety and the ruling of mental health and the vocal style of Hicks.

“Please take me home, I’m scared and alone. Please take me home… Keeping up appearances wears me down…”

That’s How You Get Ants is a highly, upbeat three minute track that has a real Country Rock feel. Reflecting on one’s life and mental health again, the song has a real self depreciating tinge when the lyrics call oneself a “piece of shit” for wanting to approach a girl he likes, cutting down his self worth. The song ends quite abruptly, almost like one’s thoughts.
Northcote is a near five minute track with a real focus on the vocals and lyrics of the song. Despite being named after a Melbourne suburb (and clearly the song is not about that), the Rock ballad is once again reflecting on relationships, love and life. The song almost questions the lover’s mental health, while questioning his own and if this is the real reasoning for their rocky relationship.

“Feels like I’m losing you, maybe I can change… These things don’t come easily, your head is not quite the mess you make it out to be. Just stop and breathe… This isn’t the end, this is only the start… You know I’m in love with you.”

Spilled Milk is the last track of the EP and the four minute song I’ve been waiting for! Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some ballads and all BUT there is nothing wrong with a real Indie Rock track; upbeat, fast with some incredulous but honest lyrics, self affirming and self aware while playfully hanging shit on yourself and music in general 🤷. We see the narrator come alive in this track, we see him grow and change and take on his past and his present.

“Don’t have anything better to do than to sit around and write sad songs about how I feel, ‘cause this world doesn’t need another white boy with a guitar to whine about how hard it is to always be missing her…”

Spilling Milk and Getting Ants is an EP I think most would enjoy for many reasons. It’s a journey of reflection, most of all, self reflection of oneself and one’s journey to happiness while dealing with situations like mental health, love and life in general. Therapy Dog has created a realistic, down to earth and relatable journey for many with Spilling Milk and Getting Ants. This is only the beginning for Therapy Dog as a band.