After a long hiatus, from 2015 to 2022, the band UNDERDOGS is back with their fourth album “Nine Ties.” Do not confuse them for any of the other bands of the same name, as there are many, even from the sixties. This band, UNDERDOGS, is a trio from Venice, Italy. They describe their sound as stoner rock. It is also a combination of influences from the nineties, grunge, punk, and some Black Sabbath. The band has the attitude of punk, with some of the trippy slow grooves Sabbath would employ and the guitar tones of grunge.

The first song is “Dogs Reunited,” an appropriate title, since this seems to be a comeback album. The song kicks off with a good fast beat and has a good rhythm to it. The guitars are a little punk with a nineties style rock riff. “Die Or Dance” was previously released as a digital single after the band reunited, and became part of their live set. The song opens with a pretty rocking guitar riff and grooves nicely when the whole band gets going. Overall, the song rocks and has a good trip beat. The vocals are in the same style and tone of Rob Zombie. “Crawl And Burn” begins with a cool trippy guitar riff. It slowly builds. Then when the vocals come in the tempo kicks up a notch, just slightly. There’s a few nice guitar riffs. The Black Sabbath influence really shows on here, especially during the interlude guitar break.

“B.O.G.” has more of a heavy punk feel to it. After a few sound effects, that sound like someone walking into a saloon and someone laughing, the song goes into a fast driving rhythm. On the interlude or solo, it moves to a halftime feel. It’s not really a solo as a musical break. I’m not sure where the title comes from, or if it means anything as nothing in the lyrics suggests anything related to the title. “Stonerland” is another song that was previously released. This song is the band’s ode or tribute to stoner rock. The songs on “Nine Ties” have a definite stoner mixed with nineties grunge vibe. Overall, there is not a lot on here to get me excited, but I’m not into the style. There are a couple of songs on here that even I can enjoy.  The vocals are good. The guitars I find have a muddy tone and is heavy on the fuzz. It works well for a couple of songs, but for a general sound for an album, it doesn’t do anything for me. For those who like stoner rock, UNDERDOGS are good at what they do. If that’s your thing, then you’ll enjoy this.