Preview: Austin’s A Giant Dog @ Dantes
A Giant Dog Live @ Dantes
December 10, 2014
By Paul Stinson
Shticklessly stabbing at the heart of mediocrity since 2008, Austin’s A Giant Dog brings their inspired, pulse-pounding anaerobic rump-shaking melodic mayhem to Portland –taking a page from the Stooges while developing a blueprint on how to win over the unsuspecting.
Supported by a cataclysmically unrelenting band and nonstop songwriter/guitarist Andrew Cashen, frontwoman Sabrina Ellis captures a room with a vocal flair and stage presence that is at once physical and heart-stopping, singing with all of the force of a PJ Harvey or Jennifer Holiday, punctuated by a swagger and fearlessness of a Mark Arm or David Yow, drawn to a close by the cheeky finishing of Charo or anyone starring in a 1980s workout video.
Few disappear into the spotlight as well as Ellis, and to see A Giant Dog is to be inspired by the kind of unpretentious working-class punk ethos capable of being raw yet refined, professional without being over-polished and unapologetic when they fuck shit up. It’s honest and vital, it’s how music is supposed to be –to catch the dog is to live well.
A shark that never stops circling Austin’s booze-infested waters, the band’s movement is a constant, solidifying a loyal following once and for all, following a five-Wednesday March residency at East Austin’s Hotel Vegas. There, crowds expanded over the month to a dedicated following of 150 to catch the band in the wee hours, including the likes of Spoon’s Britt Daniels who tapped the band as an opener for their upcoming two-week tour across the west and southwest.
Not to be missed.
Get tickets for the A Giant Dog show at Dantes on December 10.