Throughout DEMO 1, Begging Dog’s Jeff Kleinman crafts within natural parameters, telling relatable stories through song without pretense. His latest single “‘Common Place’ was written about my 5 years living in Salt Lake City,” he tells. “One of the most thrilling times of my life full of community and art and an overwhelming feeling of love from everyone around me. It was also an incredibly difficult time in my life, and a kind of turning point in my descent into alcohol addiction. I knew true love, I witnessed a suicide, I joined my favorite band, and I drank far too much. ‘Common Place’ is a song looking back at all of the beauty and heartbreak from that time, a reflection on everything I have learned and come to cherish from Salt Lake, and a thank you to everyone that I know there. Missing something more than you expected can be a very humbling experience.”
Begging Dog, Kleinman’s new indie punk project has become an outlet for his work outside of the band Choir Boy. The now LA based multi-instrumentalist and artist embraces the mundane with a raw, homespun sound that nods to classic punk and plain language lyricism. Word of his debut DEMO 1 spread quickly across the underground, catching the ear of Dais Records who signed Kleinman and will be giving the original album a wider vinyl release.
DEMO 1 is 26 minutes packed with rolling bass and synth lines, charismatic riffs, and motorik drum beats. Lyrically, the songs feature a range of lived-in observations, scenes, and characters: a pushy union rep; a mailman with a steady federal job; a compulsive gambler; a beloved neighborhood homeless man. Ex-loves become collaged together, haunting several tracks, out of context, with blunt, sharp-witted free verse. Kleinman cites Bruce Springsteen as an inspiration in how his songs are penned with plain ink, opting for direct simplicity over flowery prose.
He taps into a shared loneliness, both universal and perhaps especially unique to living in Los Angeles, with no-frills nuance and vulnerability. On the title track, Kleinman sings, “no one loves a begging dog,” in a line borrowed from a friend that embodies the project’s point of view: the world can make you feel like a begging dog in search of affection and security, but there is beauty in solitude and the buzzing monotony of it all.
Kleinman recorded DEMO 1 without much more than himself. Live, Begging Dog’s dynamic material translates to a seven-piece band. “No matter how good or not good you have it, you’re kind of like looking for something more,” says Kleinman, stopping short of trying to find some larger meaning in his work. “When I’m writing about these things, I don’t try to make them more important than what they are.” DEMO 1 benefits from this straightforward, everyman humility, crossing candor with grit and hooks.
DEMO 1 was mixed / mastered by Matt Whitehurst. It’s currently streaming across all digital retailers and sees its release on vinyl via Dais Records on December 12.
