{"title":"A Giant Dog","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe quintet Spoon’s Britt Daniel calls “the greatest American rock and roll \/ punk band since I don’t know when.”\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-pile","title":"A Giant Dog - Pile","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncluded in:\u003cbr\u003e-\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/apps.npr.org\/best-music-2016\/list\/heavy-rotation\/\"\u003eNPR Heavy Rotation 2016\u003c\/a\u003e (“\u0026amp; Rock \u0026amp; Roll\")\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForging their friendships in the crucible of their Houston, TX, high school, Sabrina Ellis (vocals), Andrew Cashen (vocals, guitar), and Orville Neeley (drums) first got their start covering AC\/DC, The Ramones, Joan Jett, and the finer points of the \u003ci\u003eBack to the Future\u003c\/i\u003e soundtrack at school dances under the band name Youth In Asia. Reuniting in Austin in 2008, they enlisted their pals Andy Bauer (guitar) and Graham Low (bass) and christened the act \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/a-giant-dog\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAGD is raucous ear candy culled from the hook-driven melodies of Slade, the glammy swagger of Marc Bolan, the morbid fantasy of \u003ci\u003eKiller\u003c\/i\u003e-era Alice Cooper, and the unpredictable wit of Sparks. Sabrina and Andrew’s lyrics, equal parts brutally honest, clever, and debased, have a knack for taking their idiosyncratic depravities and making them feel universal. These songs are by, for, and about the losers, freaks, and outcasts. The lonely. The terminally horny. Boozehounds and party animals. No band better speaks to the hearts of slackers, burnouts, rockers, sluts, and creeps everywhere than A Giant Dog.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePile\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, AGD’s third LP and first for Merge Records, shows a band whose years of road-dogging have honed them into unstoppable rock machines. Their second time working with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, White Denim, Trail of Dead) reveals Sabrina’s impressive pipes, Andrew’s sweet licks, and a pummeling rhythm section—everything is tighter, more focused, crisper. The album deals with divorce, getting older, dying, frustration, and futility, ultimately transcending those earthly headaches through the power of rock ’n’ roll.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont style=\"color: red; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\" color=\"red\"\u003eLP includes a coupon for a full download.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":52739205955895,"sku":"MRG562LP","price":24.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52996576477495,"sku":"MRG562CD","price":14.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739205988663,"sku":"MRG562digital","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/4b7634bf5dc4b063f79461cb7dcdc3e0201c3df4_f6a09ebd2edded33764846e71f293bfa56ea28fc_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1789587522"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-toy","title":"A Giant Dog - Toy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eToy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, the fourth LP from \u003cstrong\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/strong\u003e and their second for Merge, captures the Austin quintet at the height of their powers. A solid year of road-dogging and woodshedding has made the band tighter than ever, the charging dynamo of Andrew Cashen and Andy Bauer's guitars in lockstep with the primal chug of the rhythm section, Graham Low on bass and Daniel Blanchard on drums, in the latter's recorded debut. Singer Sabrina Ellis turns in another masterful performance, in equal parts brash, defiant, vulnerable, and raw.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLyrically, Sabrina and Andrew have a gift for making their personal frustrations and fuck-ups, fears, lusts, and addictions feel universal. While they have always given voice to the weirdos and creeps, they dig even deeper on \u003ci\u003eToy\u003c\/i\u003e. \"I feel I've revealed more in this album than ever before,\" Sabrina confesses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band recorded \u003ci\u003eToy\u003c\/i\u003e with Grammy-winning engineer Stuart Sikes (Loretta Lynn, Cat Power, The White Stripes, Reigning Sound), with Cashen producing it. \"Andrew as producer makes a lot of sense,\" Sabrina says. \"He composes the songs and knows better than anyone what they should sound like in the end. With him at the helm, we've arrived at a raw, truthful, risky, and rangy album.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":52739211133239,"sku":"MRG592LP","price":19.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52996576706871,"sku":"MRG592CD","price":14.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739211067703,"sku":"MRG592digital","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/f38b9fdd5260bc661616c581745a9dc5355705c3_a54899e74339fca124e4c790d784a130a04ade50_medium_jpg_3d71547d-9cf0-4af6-a43b-a8441e1af905.jpg?v=1789587538"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-neon-bible","title":"A Giant Dog - Neon Bible","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/a-giant-dog\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003efrontperson Sabrina Ellis writes:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003eMerge invited us to be part of their [30th anniversary] subscription series. They granted us a budget and said we could cover the entirety of any album we want, since the beginning of time. We debated which album to cover; we were full of ideas. \u003ci\u003eSheer Heart Attack\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTapestry\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCaptain Fantastic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOff the Wall\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePurple Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, such classics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003eAndrew insisted we take on \u003ci\u003eNeon Bible\u003c\/i\u003e because he believed we could do something cool and unique with it. Throughout the process, we learned that \u003ci\u003eNeon Bible\u003c\/i\u003e is a great album, that Arcade Fire made it with thematic focus and a cohesive sound. These discoveries will certainly influence our next AGD record.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003eWe found our own groove on each song during two five-hour rehearsals in my living room, then went to studio with Stuart Sikes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003eThe themes in the album, of outrage at U.S. leadership in the early 2000s, and a need to escape our social climate, sadly, remain pertinent today.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003eRecording a cover album, we felt like actors in a movie. Taking someone else’s lines and embodying those emotions, and expressing those ideas through our own selves, made us portals of human expression… and that’s why the album artwork is an open butthole.*\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:#000000;\"\u003e* The awesome butthole artwork was conceived by our drummer Danny and made possible by our friend Jennine Turow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"LP (Black)","offer_id":52739241214263,"sku":"MRG643lp","price":19.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739241247031,"sku":"MRG643digital","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/73cebe754977908e26b5c8244285b42639e6d5da_01d62770fcd382f31ec1f682a3d49efb077547d9_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785381979"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-fight-reissue","title":"A Giant Dog - Fight (Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCelebrating its tenth birthday in 2022 is\u003ca href=\"artist\/a_giant_dog\"\u003e A Giant Dog\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eFight\u003c\/i\u003e, the Texas group’s hard-to-find debut album, remixed by Stuart Sikes from the original tape, remastered, and pressed on green vinyl just for the occasion. All the trademark tenets of AGD lore are on display at the jump: monstrously adorable album art and punny title, whip-smart songwriting dolled up in denim and leather, boiled down to the sweetest moments and blown out to the masses with bravado to spare. Upon \u003ci\u003eFight\u003c\/i\u003e’s original release, the local Austin Chronicle raved: “The raucous, low-rent squall quakes with affirmative abandon, while a just-right dose of pop girds the buzz and yowl. As such, these 15 songs on vinyl resonate well beyond the group’s chosen genre lines.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Peak Vinyl (Green)","offer_id":52739324117303,"sku":"MRG793lp-C1","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739324150071,"sku":"MRG793digital","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/2632a071d6809508ba467b986ce962b8f5901feb_8ad3cc5ffd3a8e8c2cfe00738e6fe233bd4427d1_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785382280"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-bone-reissue","title":"A Giant Dog - Bone (Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecording for the first time with a proper producer (Mike McCarthy) in a proper environment (a studio, lol), \u003ca href=\"artist\/a_giant_dog\"\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eBone\u003c\/i\u003e, on pink vinyl for the reissue, still manages to kool-aid man its way through the speakers with the immediacy of the band’s live shows, a hit parade for the party people. Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen add another baker’s dozen tunes to the band’s repertoire just a year following their debut, with songs like “All I Wanted,” “Dammit Pomegranate,” and “Another World” cementing them as a conspicuous songwriting duo.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Peak Vinyl (Pink)","offer_id":52739324248375,"sku":"MRG794lp-C1","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739324281143,"sku":"MRG794digital","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/c694a4f62e88cbebddadf9e7855171bc0709b71f_c7a3ffb6d81021d834f99ad4d38103026eac7371_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785382282"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-bite","title":"A Giant Dog - Bite","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe moment the needle drops on \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBite\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, one’s conception of what an \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/a-giant-dog\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003erecord sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe biggest point of departure is that \u003ci\u003eBite \u003c\/i\u003eis a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. You’re thrown into it quickly, as a calm, robotic voice says, “Welcome to Avalonia, happiness awaits inside” over a crushing synth line that segues into an opulent string arrangement. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe songs on \u003ci\u003eBite \u003c\/i\u003eare full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album’s narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy’s \u003ci\u003eJailbreak \u003c\/i\u003eas it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Peak Vinyl (Antifreeze Green)","offer_id":52739332079927,"sku":"MRG829lp-C1","price":23.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP (Black)","offer_id":52739332112695,"sku":"MRG829LP","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52739332145463,"sku":"MRG829CD","price":13.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739332178231,"sku":"MRG829digital","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/55712395298e9cad8e8c0d6917b6315924cb85c2_d6ae74c9cb92cef22ad2d3eddb5599aa46c0d3aa_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785382483"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-raw-ep","title":"A Giant Dog - Raw EP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);\"\u003eThis 4-song EP strips down the glam-punk pyrotechnics of 2023’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/a-giant-dog-bite\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBite\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);\"\u003e to the essentials, the full band giving way to A Giant Dog’s core duo of Sabrina Ellis (vocals) and Andrew Cashen (guitar, keys, vocals), recasting the anthemic heroics of tracks like “Watch It Burn” into smoldering, intimate epics. Largely acoustic, \u003ci\u003eRaw\u003c\/i\u003e represents a version of A Giant Dog that’s rarely let loose in public, as if the musical theater underpinnings of Ellis and Cashen’s work pulled them closer to the cabaret than the rock opera.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739356754231,"sku":"MRG863DA","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/4a54fd6a698498179ef9b4f3ff415c6c97a035e3_ac0c3460ba78f01725bd33cfe04bfa13980725ce_medium_jpeg.jpg?v=1785382674"},{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-a-giant-dog-slipmat","title":"A Giant Dog - A Giant Dog Slipmat","description":"\u003cp\u003eMerge-branded turntable slipmat designed by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/a-giant-dog\"\u003eA Giant Dog\u003c\/a\u003e. Screenprinted onto black felt.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52740183032119,"sku":"MRGO001-Slipmat-AGD-Merge","price":9.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/9d01a61823056d4a995335d9c156a05095cadf90_b23f2ba6b2bb745a110df48ecd0df8b2fa5aa80f_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785389014"}],"url":"https:\/\/mergerecords.com\/collections\/a-giant-dog.oembed","provider":"Merge Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}