Fat Dog share their brand new song 'Running', taken from their recently announce debut album WOOF, set for release on September 6 via Domino.
‘Running’ is a slice of unhinged, hook-heavy twisted trance. The video, directed by Stephen Agnew, hints to Ken Russell, Ingmar Bergman and MANDY whilst revealing the true origins of the cult of Fat Dog and their real leader. The track arrives eight months on since their sprawling debut single ‘King of the Slugs’ was released. One of the most exciting breakthrough bands of the past few years and with only three tracks out thus far, Fat Dog are now the creators of WOOF, a brilliant and mind-bending record.
Formed in 2021, frontman Joe Love decided to form a group and take the demos he had been making at home as a way to keep himself sane during lockdown out into the world. In Chris Hughes (keyboards/synths), Ben Harris (bass), Johnny Hutchinson (drums) and Morgan Wallace (keyboards and saxophone), Love found like-minded mavericks to help bring the dream home. “A lot of music at the moment is very cerebral and people won’t dance to it,” says Hughes. “Our music is the polar opposite of thinking music.”
Listen to ‘Running’ by Fat Dog on the Shoot Music New Releases Playlist on Spotify.
Hughes should know. He was a fan of the band, at that point making a name for themselves with a series of shows across South London, before he was in the band. Those formative gigs formed the bedrock of what Fat Dog were all about, seizing the moment, drinking too much with the moment, going home separately from the moment but making up with the moment again the next day.
The sound Fat Dog make, Love says, is screaming-into-a-pillow music. “I wanted to make something ridiculous because I was so bored,” he declares. It’s a thrilling blend of electro-punk, rock’n’roll snarling, techno soundscapes, industrial-pop and rave euphoria, music for letting go to. Produced by Joe Love, James Ford and Jimmy Robertson, WOOF. passes by in a flash. Influences include Bicep, I.R.O.K., Kamasi Washington and the Russian experimental EDM group Little Big.
The album is a visit into the mind of Joe Love. “Music is so vanilla,” says Love. “I don’t like sanitised music. Even this album is sanitised compared to what’s in my head. I thought it would sound more f***ed up.”
On the live front, every Fat Dog show in London has become a huge upgrade on the last. They sold out the Scala in October 2023 and most recently played a triumphant set to a sold-out Electric Brixton. There is something deeper going on here than the usual punter-goes-to-gig situation. Everyone is in on it. “There’s a sense of community about Fat Dog,” says Hutchinson.
It’s not just the capital who have been bitten; recently, the band completed an ecstatically received tour of the US. They will tour the UK next month and in November including their next hometown show at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town on November 23 as well as performing at a string of festivals in the UK and Europe this summer before heading back to North America in October.
