A Giant Dog

The sixth album from Austin glam-punk lifers A Giant Dog, released August 25, 2023 on Merge Records. Bite is a full-blown sci-fi concept record — a story-arc about a virtual reality that promises a perfect existence and can't deliver — and the band uses the conceit to widen everything: bigger hooks, string arrangements, operatic falsetto, glam stomps, the works. It's their most ambitious record by a wide margin, and still arrives with the bruised-knuckle riffs the band has been refining since 2012.

Sabrina Ellis (vocals) and Andrew Cashen (guitar/vocals) have been at the wheel of A Giant Dog through five previous LPs. The lineup is rounded out by Andy Bauer, Graham Low, and Daniel Blanchard, with Bauer co-producing the album.

Cool stuff:

• A full sci-fi concept album — the loose narrative tracks a protagonist navigating a VR world that promises bliss but won't actually deliver, with songs sequenced to play through the arc
• The record threads in gender dysphoria, AI panic, and the value of "messy humanity" as themes, with Sabrina Ellis (who is non-binary) singing through the protagonist's perspective
• Released on Merge Records, the band's third LP for the storied Durham, NC label after Toy (2017) and Neon Bible Archives (2018)
• Recorded in Austin with Andy Bauer co-producing — pushing the band well past their previous garage-rock setting into string-laden, multi-textured arrangements
• The opening title track "Bite" sets the conceit immediately with a chorus designed to be sung along to in arenas the band hasn't actually played yet

Spin it for: big hooks, glam-rock theatrics, and a concept record that earns its ambitions without losing the band's punk core.

Standouts: "Bite" · "Different Than the Rest" · "Gold Star" · "Glide"

Sources: Austin Chronicle review · Post-Trash review · Merge Records · Spectrum Culture · Bandcamp