Fat Dog are a propulsive new act in each sense of the phrase. Their sonic myriad of dance, punk, klezmer and sheer noise is dumbfounding, but fully thrilling. Fresh off the again of a dozen performances (sure, twelve) at SXSW in Texas, the band are swimming in confidence as their extremely anticipated headline present at Electric Brixton approaches. It’s one of many south London quintet’s greatest hometown exhibits so far. Yet, as I’ve an opportunity encounter with lead singer Josh Love across the nook on the native pub pre-show, he couldn’t look any extra unfazed. The prospect of shortly taking part in in entrance of 1,500 sweaty, intensely passionate gig revellers was met with an uber informal “yeah… it should be great.” Little was I to know, this was merely the calm earlier than the storm.
Opening in mockingly overdramatic vogue with the epic ‘O Fortuna’ from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mancunian actor Neil Bell hypes the already frenetic young crowd with spoken phrase excerpts which build to a roaring crescendo. As Fat Dog take to the stage, the extent of chaos grows incessantly. Johnny ‘Doghead’ Hutch leads the cost sporting a ‘more blacks, more dogs, more Irish’ t-shirt and a sweat-inducing German shepherd masks, in fact. Love instantly throws himself into the gang from the offset, earlier than transitioning into ‘King of the Slugs’, one of many band’s two launched tracks so far, and inflicting carnage within the course of. His all white outfit and slick cowboy hat gleams on stage. His calm manner contrasts wildly with the ocean of bobbing heads in entrance of him and searching like a little bit of an odd mid-western pastor, it’s as if the band maintain miracle-like properties to their worshipers bowing on the altar earlier than them.
‘All the Same’ supplies one other massive spotlight. But having performed each of their at present launched singles so early within the set, what’s much more spectacular is Fat Dog’s conviction of their total catalogue of fabric. Sax participant Morgan Wallace brings echoes of Black Country, New Road to the lineup along with her danceable rhythmic traces and off-kilter shrieks. The viewers’s power exhibits no indicators of slowing down, with mosh pit after mosh pit ensuing. And while it’s actually calmer watching from the again, it turns into clear that there’s just one option to relish the total Fat Dog expertise – to become involved.
Joining the now ocean of bobbing heads down the entrance, the band’s shock cowl of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’ is impeccable. A sequence of hardcore numbers comply with, lifting the temperature within the room up a number of additional levels within the course of. One monitor with the repeated mantra “I’m in love with the world” affords a quick reprise with its surprisingly mild really feel earlier than regular service resumes in the direction of the closing tracks and Love’s gnarly vocals hiss by means of the audio system. Drenched in sweat, out of breath, their loyal crowd head out into the rain with exhilaration etched throughout their faces.
For music to remain recent, new artists have to come back alongside and actually shake up the scenes they inhabit. Fat Dog are doing precisely this. Full of numerous bemusing sights and seems like canine barks, canine masks and lobster claw palms, their Brixton present proves that they aren’t right here to stay to the established order. Right now, the world is Fat Dog’s oyster.
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Words: Jamie Wilde
