Cavedogs Don’t Mind the Lofty Comparisons

For a while there, the word was going around that the members of the Cavedogs--who play the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano tonight--were related to Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend and the late Keith Moon. Just a rumor, it turned out. Still, when aficionados talk about the Boston-based trio’s sound, comparisons to the Who and the Beatles do crop up almost constantly.

“I guess it’s better than being compared to ABBA,� says Cavedogs’ bass player Brian Stevens. “Really, I don’t mind being compared to these bands, if it’s done lovingly.�

There’s more to the Cavedogs, though, than their outstanding Who/Beatles-esque pop. There’s also a certain edge to their sound that conjures up the likes of Husker Du and the Jam. Stevens also lists the Kinks among his all-time favorite bands.

“Meaningful pop� is what Stevens says he and his band mates like. “We all have an affection for music from the mid-’60s.� He, guitarist Todd Spahr and drummer Mark Rivers got their own start about five years ago, and reports of their high-powered gigs spread quickly throughout the Boston-area club scene.

A bootleg recording of a Cavedogs show surfaced on a Boston radio station. The band’s first official release, “Joy Ride for Shut-Ins,� is on the Enigma label. All the songs on it date back to the band’s early days, but Rivers says the sound hasn’t changed much since then. “We’ve matured a bit, and it’s reflected in our songwriting,� he said. “But we have no plans to abandon what we do and go off somewhere else.�