Undoubtedly a beast on stage, the London electro-punk pack gains depth without losing energy on “Cancel Me (I’m Tired)”, their second album.
Do not be fooled by the whining title of Fat Dog’s second album: these London hounds may claim to be exhausted and dream of becoming targets of the cancel culture in order to catch their breath, but they take a sly pleasure in chaining tours and studio sessions, releasing this new chapter only two years after the first.
Just watching them live makes it clear that we’re dealing with a group in full bloom. If their shows remain a playground where they excel, with riotous performances where anything can happen, the London crew also proves themselves on record, which isn’t always the case for stage beasts of their caliber.
Joe Love, the Unruly Leader and Deranged Crooner
Several tracks from Cancel Me (I’m Tired) could easily have found a place on Woof., their debut album that kicked off the 2024 season with a bang. Take, for instance, the techno-postpunk-klezmer brawler Bad Dog, the frenetic and deranged Shit Love, or the abrasive opening Smile and Wave, which oscillates between organ-like synths under high tension and riffs teetering on the edge of apocalypse.
Yet these big, self-proclaimed pups reveal other facets of their personality where the tachycardia crisis has faded. More supple and measured, tracks like the single Go Fuck Urself and the title track lean toward synthpop and Klaxons, with immediately catchy melodies carefully polished.
But the real upheavals come from the eruption of four ballads whose melancholy and tenderness one wouldn’t have expected from them: Heart of Darkness, where the acoustic guitar takes center stage; the country-tinged Snakes, with whistles straight out of a Western film score; the biting The Devil, reminiscent of a disheveled Franz Ferdinand; not to mention the incredible finale Aliens with its monumental symphonic swells.
We are thrilled to see that Joe Love, the uncontrollable leader, can morph into a deranged crooner, temporarily tamed, before plunging back into the rave-punk fury that suits him just as well. What a sight!
Cancel Me (I’m Tired) (Domino/Sony Music). Release on October 2. In concert at L’Élysée Montmartre, Paris, on October 31; at Stereolux, Nantes, on November 1; and at Grand Mix, Tourcoing, on the 3rd.
