Fat dog – peace song

Photos by: Anna Dallas

A Fat Dog gig has all the characteristics of a gathering of a remote religious movement whose followers are in touch with some sort of deeper concepts the common man is not aware of, and for about an hour, various rituals are undergone to the sound of industrial-synthetic-post-punk pop. 

Fat Dog has seized a craze in the UK underground music scene that has rocketed them from being a frequent card on small but notorious venues like the Windmill’s band list to graduating to the foreground of the alternative rock scene with a sound defined by its idiosyncratic eccentricity and genre bending facets. Their performances require six members to man the number of instruments needed to produce the music live. Their dynamic sound incorporates an array of instruments: the drums and percussion provide the rapid industrial tempo to their performance, a bass guitar provides it with a pulse, the psychedelic lead guitar is rotated between a few members, the keyboard and synthesisers bend soundwaves into electronic distortions, Joe Love’s vocals are stern and confident in their nihilistic scripture, and, of course, the saxophone wild and tameless shrieking through the pounding percussion. 

Shortly after the set began, Joe Love’s second in command Chris Hughes entered the crowd to rally the troops and raise morale within the ranks, positioning himself in the middle of a gaping circle that soon became a mosh-pit battleground. Then, Mr. Love himself climbed down and found a position on the railing almost level with the crowd, allowing for a more personal interaction with his followers. As if hypnotised, the crowd surged in the direction of whatever way Love’s arm swayed. Songs were broken up with various call and response routines where the band and the audience exchanged ‘Woofs’ and barks at each other. 

Most songs are received with a similar level of delirium, with highlights being ‘Running’, ‘King of The Slugs’ and ‘All the Same’, all songs that have reached legendary status within the Fat Dog following and beyond. The band’s debut album ‘Woof’ received critical acclaim from NME and DIY amongst others. 

A highlight of their performance for me was ‘Peace Song’, one that spouts slightly less EDM energy and is more a pop-structured song with less of Fat Dog’s signature distorted Gaba-Esque drumbeat. The song seems to warn of the end of the world but offers euphoria nonetheless. Indeed, despite its sometimes morbid lyrics: ‘It’s the beginning of the end And now the dream is over’; the song maintains a tone of positivity, ‘I’m in love with the world’ emitting a sense of post apocalypse acceptance, of embracing the impending doom, of having one last freak out before the sun rises and we have to go home.