There is something gloriously unreasonable about Diamond Dogs in 2026. While modern rock continues to wrestle with existential anxiety, algorithm-friendly production and the apparently pressing question of whether guitars are still allowed to sound like guitars, Sören “Sulo” Karlsson and his Swedish rabble have wandered in from the pub, ordered another round and decided that the answer is simply: turn it up.
The album’s twelve tracks stick resolutely to the Diamond Dogs formula: gritty rhythm and blues, Stonesy swagger, Faces-style looseness, glam-rock scuzz, soul, piano-led boogie and enough lived-in rock ’n’ roll attitude to make most younger bands sound as though they have just completed a course in Looking Cool.
The opening “Heartache On My Mind” immediately establishes the rules. There will be no ambient intro, no whispered declaration that “this song is about something important”, and absolutely no waiting around for the interesting bit. The band simply gets on with it. “Bad For You” follows with the sort of dirty, muscular groove that Diamond Dogs could probably play while simultaneously fixing a motorcycle.
Then comes “I Took A Hard Turn”, a wonderfully loose piece of swaggering rock ’n’ roll in which the bass and piano give the song its rolling, slightly drunken momentum. It has the crucial Diamond Dogs quality of sounding like the musicians are actually enjoying themselves rather than performing enjoyment for a camera.
But the album really catches fire with “My Heart Is A Cold Case”. There is a touch of soulfulness here that recalls some of the band’s best work, and it is one of those tracks that demonstrates why they have survived when plenty of other retro-rock outfits have long since become musical furniture.
“Maverick In A Crowd” is another standout, full of loose-limbed energy and the kind of storytelling that makes you suspect Sulo has accumulated enough questionable experiences to fill several autobiographies and at least one police report.
Then there is “A Broken Promise”, which slows things down just enough to demonstrate that the Dogs aren’t simply a human jukebox permanently stuck on “boogie”. And “Killing Blues” is exactly as wonderfully grubby as its title suggests, bringing a country-blues flavour into the mix without ever sounding like a bunch of rock musicians suddenly wearing hats because they have discovered Nashville.
The jewel in the crown, though, may be “Brass Monkey Weather”. It sounds like it has been locked in a room with several dangerous substances and told not to come out until there is a groove. Essentially, it sums up the album in one track.
By the time “Stubborn Pony”, “From The Rooftops” and the closing “A Place In The Sun” arrive, the point has been thoroughly established. This is a band that knows precisely what it wants to sound like, and — perhaps more importantly — doesn’t give a flying drumstick whether anyone thinks it ought to sound different.
Overall, this isn’t quite the album that displaces the band’s absolute classics. Black River Road and The Grit & The Very Soul remain formidable reference points, and the band’s catalogue is now large enough that choosing a single favourite is basically an invitation to start a pub fight. One recent assessment similarly places those records above the new album while still praising Similar Shakes Different Distortion as a very good release.
Similar Shakes. Different Distortion. Same bloody Dogs.
Donnie’s Rating: 8/10
