Richie Quake Shares Sophomore Album 'Dog'

Brooklyn-born, Lower East Side-based alternative artist Richie Quake shares his sophomore album, Dog. Packed with crunchy guitar sounds, ethereal production, and Richie's vulnerable vocals, Dog delves deep into Richie's relationship experiences.

Touching on themes of love, art, heartbreak, obsession, and growth, the 10-track project is a lush, layered glimpse into the beautiful complexities and challenges of falling (and staying) in love. Inspired by the idea of embodying the dog and their qualities of earnestness and unadulterated bliss, Richie's latest album represents his attempt at letting go of other people's expectations. Dog, for Richie, is the unfiltered, unencumbered music he's finally making for himself.

The opening title-track, "Dog" toes the lines between fear and pleasure, spectacle and intimacy. The quirky and artistic "Birthday Party" showcases Richie's ability to bring the listener into his unique vantage point of everyday experiences. Inspired by AI images of an eclectic family created by director Peter Suski and shot in Richie's grandfather's apartment, the track's music video depicts a family of misfits juxtaposed by the seemingly "normal" birthday party they are throwing.

Richie weaves a world of messy relationships with others and himself, enticed by the complexities of love and growth. The yearning, acoustic-tinged "Tree" explores the duality of feeling surrounded while craving the insular, and finding comfort in unexpected places. "Baby Ocean Girl" swims in beachy guitar and head-bopping percussion, telling the story of an online love that could have been. And simmering alt-pop tune, "TOMMY", finds Richie battling the devil on his shoulder as he sings, "Tommy's looking pretty, sitting on my shoulder / I just wanna hit him, watch him tippin' over".

Richie continues to press up close to his inner emotional world as the album progresses.

Inspired by the dismal political atmosphere of 2020 and 2021, "Throwing Stones" teeters on the edge between hopelessness and acceptance. Gilded with a grimy bass line, eerie vocals, and a thrashing drum beat, Richie calls this song "a mantra or a prayer" for self-reliance and peace amidst the chaos.

“Entire Vampire” explores the tumultuous rush of emotions that exist in the void that is left behind after an intense relationship ends. Grungy and laid back, the track simmers with a churning underbelly of molten emotion, created by erratic bursts of heavy percussion and raspy wails from Richie’s guitar.

Haunting, sensual, and lined with sweeping cello undertones, "PALM" laments an intense and all-wrong romance: "She looks like a dream I had / and I can picture it so clear / and I know what she wants to hear". "Floor" cuts to the core as it speaks to Richie's experience losing his hearing in his left ear, and subsequently, discovering the fear of losing his life as a musician. The track's ascending chromatic scales swirl the listener into the whirlwind of Richie's lost control.

The final track, "String", brings Dog to a close, and the listener is submerged one last time in a passionate amalgamation of Richie's indie alternative sensibility, thunderous and sometimes scathing introspection, and the rawness of his undiluted honesty. 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Richie Quake is a multi-talented instrumentalist, songwriter, and performer. Celebrated for his eclectic and genre-melding style, Quake fuses elements of lo-fi indie, alternative pop and psych-rock with relatable lyrics for an experience that's both cinematic and deeply nostalgic.

He’s been supported by VICE, Paper Magazine, NYLON, Pigeons and Planes, KCRW, Lyrical Lemonade, FADER, Oyster Mag, and other outlets. His music has been featured in Comedy Central shows Broad City and Detroiters and Spotify’s Lorem, anti pop, New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Sad Bops as well as Apple's Pop Chill and Indie Pop playlists. Richie has also collaborated with luxury streetwear brand Who Decides War as the DJ for the NYWF show.

Photo Credit: Jacob Cosenstein