Here’s what I knew about Fat Dog, going into their late night set at The EARL:
- The songs “Running” and “King of the Slugs” are heavy and frenetic and futuristic
- Their studio sound has a certain over-polish that I can’t quite put my finger on
I wasn’t sure, am I going to catch the next Viagra Boys? Or something a little more…Live Nation Certified Hard Rock™?
Only one way to find out. We caught an uber to The EARL after Friday’s set. Three songs, we agreed. We’ll stick around for three songs, catch the vibe.
Instead, we left The EARL drunk and sweaty, ready to run through a brick wall two hours later, because Fat Dog absolutely rocked. And when I say they rocked, I mean Fat Dog rocked as hard as a band can possibly rock. Osees Carrion Crawler/The Dream kind of rocked. King Gizz Infest the Rats Nest tour kind of rocked.
All that over-polish I was worried about was nowhere to be found in the live set.
Instead Fat Dog brought driving synths, throbbing bass, relentless rhythms, and ferocious turns. I saw live what I couldn’t quite understand from a cursory listen to their debut album WOOF; that what I might recognize as over-polish is in fact a sound so unique that it’s easy to misunderstand.
The Fat Dog sound blends this heavy, burly electro-industrial-post-punk with rave-ready dance textures that give way to rhythmic, theatrical klezmer interludes which can abruptly, ferociously end at the drop of another savage industrial dance measure, all the while lead singer Joe Love screams lyrics into the void and the synth player and the sax player do running man crowd work a-la Talking Heads.
It’s a demented circus ride built on top of an old Nine Inch Nails and darkwave mix tape made by a working class skater kid that loves Nintendo. Check this playlist out at maximum volume.
Coming out of the set, a clear picture emerged in my mind of a post-punk subgenre niche that I actually like a lot. It’s Viagra Boys. It’s Fat Dog. It’s Warmduscher. It’s Atlanta’s own CDSM.
For now, I’m calling it post-apocalyptic post-punk: the world sucks, there is no hope, now psych out to these heavy, crunchy synths and watch it all burn.
The bottom line: if Fat Dog is playing in your town, you should buy 4 tickets immediately. Then invite your three coolest friends, get pretty drunk and get ready to see the light, slug.
Check out photos below from the Fat Dog’s Shaky Knees 2025 Late Night Show at The EARL in Atlanta, GA on Friday, September 19th, all photos by Mike Gerry:
UPCOMING FAT DOG TOUR DATES
Thu. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel
Fri. Sept. 26 – Somerville, MA @ Warehouse XI
Sat. Sept. 27 – Montreal, QC @ Toscadura
Mon. Sept. 29 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
