Adelita's "Dog" Holds No Bark

Adelita's Way has musicianship to burn. That much I've noted in this space previously. What the new single "Dog On a Leash" lacks is bona fide bark. What you'd expect from a rock song is present and accounted for. Rick DeJesus channeling Chad Kroeger behind the mike stand. That's either going to underwhelm you or excite you to fits of Beatles era screaming. Robert Zakaryan bobs and weaves for what sounds like eons on guitar. That his pattern of chord selection doesn't stand in one place is to his credit. That it doesn't particularly mine any fresh terrain isn't so wonderful. Trevor "Tre" Stafford bangs his little heart out on drums. Effort isn't the problem. The end result didn't cause my eyeballs to leave their sockets. Surely I'm not jaded. I haven't circled the orbit of "been there, heard that" music listener. Could be what passes for chart hits these days (hip hop in particular) has my standards ratcheted to the ceiling. "Dog On a Leash" isn't a song I'd wish to listen to until a hole had been worn in my cochlea. Here's where I spin around to cast glance on the words part of words and music. I know there's logic floating around in there somewhere. Trouble is how do I coax it out of the brier patch. I believe "chain" refers to the dog leash. The letting go hints at an impending separation. As for "It was all in my brain", we're lucky it's in Rick's because it's not registering in mine. On to "There's something living in the house tomorrow 'cause you don't even wanna hold their face." Whuzzup with that? Smacks of selective aphasia. Words pop out but the brain's not picking the right ones. Stroke the face I get. Caress? That's plausible. But hold it? You hold a catcher's mitt, a timely reference if ever there was one. I'm envisioning a woman's face being pawed at by a simian whose libido far outweighs his intelligence. "I don't even want to help the chase." Probably the games people play when they're smitten. The vocabulary book's open but how come the fire and brimstone aren't bubbling up from the surface? Why did there need be "No one will stop you savin' my soul". Is there something inherently undesirable about that. You could pack a Sunday school auditorium with people who would doubt that. "Killing the dream" is another wonderful, highly trite lyric. Aren't movies supposed to be lousy with lines like this. Adelita's Way comes from Las Vegas, the heart of the slot machine district. "Dog On a Leash" doesn't lay its cards on the table in a particularly convincing way. Throwing curves makes life an ever present challenge. In a rock song the same trajectories have the potential to make said song amount to an ear pleaser that won't make you feel stupid for having spent four minutes of your life on it. Andrew Cushing wields his bass competently, that's it. The bridge is a little overkill. You start to wonder when Rick's going to continue on with train of thought requiring a translator either from Mars or the U.N. depending on which way your sensibilities lean. As far as amplitude goes Adelita's Way has phoned in a ditty that's more amp and less 'tude. "Dog On a Leash" should have been given freer reign. What we get back is a neutered mutt who isn't commanding anyone's attention.