Fat Dog - "WOOF." (2024)

 

Fat Dog were first brought to my attention last summer when they were added to the lineup of a festival I was attending and featured on Fantano's weekly singles roundup within the same week. I decided to check out those singles, was thoroughly impressed and made a mental note to try and catch their set. The two songs they had released thus far were this insane collision of dance punk, traditional gypsy folk music and EBM with absolutely ridiculous, absurdist lyrics about having a fever dream where the protagonist becomes the king of slugs and the like. While I really liked what I heard, what truly cemented Fat Dog in my mind was catching their set and witnessing the raw, unrestrained energy that these songs have live.

The aforementioned King of the Slugs is this 7 minute surrealist journey into the mind of someone who is really loosing the plot. The thumping two step bass cranks up the tension during the opening verses which is all released in a manic chorus where vocalist Joe Love yells at the top of his voice "I'm the king of the slugs, bitch!" This the proceeds into a slow and drawn out instrumental section that slowly morphs into a bouncy polka bridge that builds and builds until the song just smacks you with one of the hardest breakdowns I have heard in years. Wither, similarly, hits you in the face with an incessant two step groove that never lets up as Love caterwauls "You better wither baby, before you die" over and over. Other album highlights include the other two singles, All the Same and Running. All the Same has a super heavy, almost dubstep-y groove and Running being one of the most intense moments on the record. Love play's the character of an exposed cult leader running away from those trying to seek justice. Flurries of stabbing synths compliment Love's increasingly deranged vocals. I managed to see the band a few weeks ago and Running closed out the set, and felt like the climax to the whole show.

While the highlights are frankly brilliant, WOOF. as a whole is quite a short album, and the over the top, tongue-in-cheek nihilism doesn't translate as well to some of the more restrained cuts on the record. Clowns and I am the King feel more like in jokes that aren't actually that clever compared to the sheer ridiculousness of the singles. That, combined with the fact that the first and last tracks function more as just intro and outro tracks for the album rather than fully fledged songs, leaves the record feeling rather lacking in substance when it comes to the lyrics and themes. But then again, its quite obvious that the point of the album is just to be a vehicle to perform these songs live, so I can hardly critique it too much for not having much to dig into on re-listen. 

The best bits of WOOF. are some of the most exciting music I heard in all of 2024, however as a whole album it feels a little underdeveloped and scant on deeper ideas. It is also short enough that it really doesn't outstay its welcome either. And as a live band, Fat Dog are absolutely brilliant and I would recommend anyone who likes a moshy gig to go see them.

Top Tracks: Wither, King of the Slugs, All the Same, Running

7/10

Squid - "O Monolith" (2023)

With life becoming busier and busier post-pandemic and post-uni, the blog has become more and more of me just trying to keep up with new releases from artists I already follow, and less about new discoveries. I do want to change that in 2024, and get back to going through that 100 albums poster and also the David Bowie chronology I started doing in 2020 - but one record from 2023 that I really do want to cover is this, Squid's second album, O Monolith. Squid broke through in 2021 with their debut record, Bright Green Field - an experimental post-punk record which drew comparisons to black midi and Black Country, New Road and kind of made them the third part of the triarchy of the then still emerging post-Brexit / experimental post-punk scene. I didn't get around to talking about it here, but it was a good record with some great tracks, although a little bloated and not quite at the same level as the comparisons to bm and BC, NR would suggest.

O Monolith takes everything that worked about the debut and pumps it up to a new level; its' tighter, less derivative, more inventive and experimental, and certainly more wild. The band incorporate a more hypnotic and krautrock-ian sense of rhythm that draws you into this otherworldly place in which the album sits. There is something unhuman and unhinged about it, which to compare the band to their contemporaries once again, reminds me of black midi's debut, Schlagenheim. While that album achieves this feeling through pure shock value, O Monolith gains it through the atmosphere and tension it builds. At a tight 8 tracks and a sharp 42 minutes, it reminds me of some of the post-punk classics from the vinyl age where every track was vital and there was no superfluous fluff.

Swing (In A Dream) opens up the record with twinkling synths and repetitive chiming rhythm guitar, which sets you straight up to fall into this groovy but sinister record. Ollie Judge's vocals command you to "Live inside the frame, Forget everything, Swing inside a dream" like some evil hypnotist. The track breaks down into a flamenco style sax solo towards the second half before the rest of the instruments come crashing back in with a super thick and meaty bass guitar added to the mix. It's disorientating, chaotic, and disarming. This is followed up by Devil's Den, which starts off much more low-key. The track begins as a quiet swaying tune built around delicate flutes, but in the second half it is flipped on it's head, Ollie starts screaming, the discordant guitars come crashing in and the whole track descends into complete chaos.

Siphon Song really slows it down, bringing OK Computer style robotic vocals set against a slow building post-rock-y rhythm section. The track linearly builds to something louder and more dramatic, but nothing as chaotic and mental as the first couple of songs on the record. It really gives off that late 90s early 2000s art rock vibe. Stick this on a Radiohead or an early Elbow album and I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. Undergrowth returns to the off-kilter grooviness of Swing (In A Dream), complete with a bigger part from the horn section. The horns provide the pulsating beat to the song as Judge sings "I'd rather melt, melt, melt, away". The whole track feels creepy and deranged.

The Blades kicks off the second half and is perhaps my favourite track on the record (and maybe my favourite Squid track overall). The song is built of this descending, spiralling guitar rhythm, and spiky accentuating lead guitar parts. The song is so dynamic, rising up and then slowing down, and then rising back up again. The sinister paranoia of the song is also very much to my taste, as the song slowly morphs from the half way point, becoming more and more tense as Ollie's vocals become more and more insane. The horns sound more and more like sirens and the rhythm section becomes am overwhelming wall of sound, before it all just cuts back to a restrained outro featuring just a chiming guitar and quiet, restrain vocals.

After the madness of The Blades, After The Flash is at a much more plodding march-like pace. But it is equally as sinister, feeling like a march of the undead or some other kind of possessed figure. Like Siphon Song its a much needed breather in the pace of the record. The song progresses in its second half from something sinister to something more heavenly, as the riff ascends upwards - as if the protagonist of the album is attempting to escape whatever trance they are in. This clearly ultimately fails, as the deranged horn section comes slowly back in and descends back down towards the very end of the song, transitioning into Green Light, which is the most has the most intensely repetitive and aggressive groove of the album thus far.

The album closes out with If You Had Seen The Bull's Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away (what a title I know...). The song was written by the band's guitarist Anton Pearson, and while I do enjoy it to an extent, it does feel a little disconnected from the rest of the record. It's nowhere near as wild as the rest of the album and feels a little out of place because of it. The last minute of the song does build to an intense climax but as a whole the song would've fit much better on Bright Green Field than here.

O Monolith is a great development for Squid and really sets them up as something special, not just another band in the scene. It's intense and atmospheric, and also challenging and chaotic. For me, it has pushed them past black midi as scene leaders (alongside Black Country, New Road), as while bm are still just trying to shock you 3 albums in, Squid are trying to build something greater and more atmospheric (not to knock black midi, I still think Cavalcade is great). If your a fan of the scene, please check it out.

Top Tracks : Swing (In A Dream), Devil's Den, Siphon Song, Undergrowth, The Blades

8/10

Talking Heads - "Talking Heads: 77" (1977)

2021 has been the year I've really got into Talking Heads. I've known some of their biggest singles since childhood, and I've absolutely adored their magnum opus 1980's Remain In Light for a few years now; but this year has been the first time I've properly given the time to listen to their other records. Furthermore, I was gifted a record player for my birthday this year alongside this record so I feel like I should talk about it on the blog.

Talking Heads: 77 is the band's first record and is very much a skeletal blueprint of genre-melting fusion of post-punk, new wave, funk and dance music that the group would go onto produce on their later records. It's very simple and straight to the point, the tracks presented in this very raw, direct and intentional way. It's an album not bothered by pretence or concept, and I feel it makes it an incredibly replayable record because of it. It's 11 short, punchy, well written and interesting songs. Some might view the simplicity of this album as it being short on ideas, but it's got oodles of creativity and individuality, just presented in this really no-nonsense way.

The core of these songs is front man David Byrne's enigmatic and charismatic performance and his interplay with the simple and funky musical backing provided by the rest of the band. Byrne sings in this awkward, nasal and rhythmic way, shifting his tone and emphasis with each syllable of each word. At points it sounds like he's using his voice as an additional percussive instrument rather than singing in a traditional smooth, soulful way. Not that it isn't an emotional performance, as Byrne sounds really passionate, just not in a traditional way. This is matched by equally awkward and detached lyrics, where Byrne discusses a very literal interpretation of the world around him. He is baffled by how other people approach the problems in his life and they're emotional engagement in things beyond there control. One of the best tracks on the record, No Compassion, features the particular lyric "Talk to your analysist, isn't that what they're payed for" in reference to his complete disinterest in other people's benign struggles. He even presents love in this straightforward, matter of fact way; stripping it of all its mystic and glamour.

The tracks are also musically full of ideas, and are really dynamic and kinetic. Each song is built from a simple drum beat and a funky, dancy bass riff with whatever guitar lick, vocal inflection Byrne feels like doing, and additional instrumentation on top. The opener, Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town is one of the simplest tunes on the record, being this kind of stripped back disco meets post-punk song, but the simplicity makes room for one of the more exuberant Byrne performances on the record. Who Is It? is the shortest and one of the most whacky cuts with chunky, funky guitars and Byrne chanting "Who is it?" over and over. No Compassion builds and grows more aggressive as Byrne becomes more and more frustrated with other peoples problems. The now iconic single, Psycho Killer, features really tense post-punk instrumentation and harsh staccato vocals from Byrne. First Week / Last Week... Carefree has these calypso-style sax breaks and Tentative Decisions has this dance breakdown in it which sounds like something you'd find in an alt dance or Italo-house song from the early 90s. The closer Pulled Up is particularly memorable with the chorus constantly ascending the scales and this vibrant and dramatic way.

TH:77 is a great record, but for me somewhat will always stand in the shadow of the phenomenal music the would make further into their career. However, these are still really well written post-punk and new wave tunes that are effortlessly replayable. For some people, this record might be easier to get into than some of their later releases due to it's simplicity and catchiness.

Top Tracks: Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town, Tentative Decisions, Who Is It?, No Compassion, First Week / Last Week.. Carefree, Psycho Killer, Pulled Up

8/10

IDLES - "Ultra Mono"

Let's get on the IDLES hype train. I've been aware of IDLES for a couple of years, due to the critical acclaim their second record received, but didn't actually ever listen to them until Ultra Mono came out last month. So as a newcomer to the band, Ultra Mono has really impressed me as a really intense, ferocious punk album with thick, gritty instrumentation that incorporates ambitious post-punk and noise rock elements; and angry, politically disenfranchised sloganeering from frontman Joe Talbot.

The basis of every track here is the loud, pummelling drums and gnarled and grizzly bass riffs that just propel each song along with so much energy and aggression. Layered on top is the relentless lead guitars and Talbots sung / shouted vocals that sound somewhere between jaded sarcasm and complete fury. Despite the sheer intensity and volume of these songs, they're actually constructed in quite a delicate way to accentuate the bouncy grooves or the more post-punky elements such as the electronic and industrial parts of  the tracks Grounds and Reigns. Anxiety slowly gains tempo and becomes more chaotic and noisy as the track progresses, reflecting the themes within the song. The lyrics of the album are as equally relentless as the instrumentation, raging over one socio-political grievance after another. The aforementioned Anxiety addresses the complete lack of control over ones life someone can feel in current society and how it can feel overwhelming to simply exist sometimes. Reigns and Carcinogenic slam down on class inequality and War is aggressively anti-war. Joe essentially declares war on war with the opening line, "THIS MEANS WAR".

Some of the tracks take themselves slightly less seriously, and are probably the most straightforward punk on the album. However they don't feel as consistently impactful as the more aggressive and serious songs. Model Village is excellent, and something I can relate to well, growing up in a village filled with stuck up gammons like the ones described in the song. The surf-rock guitar solo is also a load of fun too. Mr. Motivator and Ne Touche Pas Moi aren't quite as impactful though. Mr. Motivator takes the piss out of the idea that you have to always be motivated and productive, and is a fun song, but lacks depth of some of the other tracks on the album. Ne Touche Pas Moi is a track about toxic masculinity and how women are often treated in public from the perspective of a women. You can tell from the performances that the band are leaning into the irony that they're a bunch of middle-class white guys singing the song from the perspective of a marginalised person, and Jenny Beth from Savages does provide backing vocals; but something about the song that just feels a little off. It's like the message of the song feels slightly forced, compared to some of the other statements on the record.

The only real slowdown on the record is the penultimate song, A Hymn. This track is a moody and atmospheric post-punk slow burn, which builds in intensity as Talbot repeatedly sings "I wanna be loved, everybody does". It's about as personal and emotional as the record goes, and does a great job functioning as a bridge between the political rage of the other tracks and genuine human emotion outside of that bubble. This leads into the loud and thunderous closer, Danke, which returns to the choppy and raw post-hardcore instrumentation, but sticks with the emotional themes of A Hymn, with Joe declaring "True love will find you in the end". Its a hopeful way to end a record that's for the most part very angry and discontent.

Ultra Mono is a brutal 40 minutes of ferocious but carefully constructed rage, and I think its great. I've heard that the record hasn't been met with quite the same level of praise that the band's first two albums were, so I'm really intrigued about how good those albums must be if Ultra Mono is considered a bit weaker.

Top Tracks: Grounds, Anxiety, Model Village, Carcinogenic, Reigns, The Lover, A Hymn

8/10