Woof! The mighty Fat Dog return with a full-on second album.
At this point you ae running out of excuses if you don’t know who Fat Dog are. Their shows were a legendary part of the indie underground for several years, though now they are emerging fully into the light. In recent weeks they had a BBC Radio One double header with both a hottest record in the world for Jack Saunder’s New Music Show, and a special live show for New Music Live recorded from Cardiff. They have played pretty much every festival going in the UK in the last few years. Their debut album crashed in at number 9 on our Albums Of The Year 2024 and remains one of the most played records on the Reading Indie Life stereo over the last two years. Fat Dog are one of the greatest live acts in the UK at this point, a riot of electronica, punk instincts and saxophone.
When ‘Peace Song’ appeared in 2025 it made you wonder if it was going to the first track of a new album, a possibly slightly more commercial instinct kicking in. Well, we had to wait a while for further music and that Peace Song does not appear on here is both a testament to their desire to push forwards and allows for the new album to be more abrasive than that possible direction went. That they are doing it all their own way and getting more recognition speaks to how much they have grown in status, and that guitar music is officially back into the UK mainstream (even if it never actually went away).
Cancel Me (I’m Tired) starts incredibly strongly with ‘Smile and Wave’ flying out of the gates with an almost instant crescendo. A propulsive monster, designed to get you moving along. The almost classical music/ELO-esque breakdown in the middle speaks to their insane range and self-belief. It follows with one of their most complete electronica efforts to date, ‘Go F**k Urself.’ This is a perfect slice of disco-vibing 80s new-wave that is again built for the live-show good times. Just when you think it has to have peaked already, the booty-shaking electro stomp of ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’ whirls into life. Both calling back more to the first album, whilst at the same time having some of the craziest lyrics they have yet committed to the page:
“Life break your balls like S&M
You make your music for H&M
I make it for B&M
Why don’t you suck my M&M’s?”
It has that air of Fat Dog nonchalance that frustrates some as immature nonsense and makes others giggle with the absurdity of it. Let us not forgot this is the band that gave us ‘King Of The Slugs.’
‘Heart of Darkness’ is the first slight slowdown, the video for it featuring a lookalike of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un singing karaoke. ‘S**t Love’ drops the pedal back to the floor straight away, before we head back into those strong 80s electronic undertones with ‘Call It Want You Want.’ ‘Snakes’ picks up some cowboy movie vibes with acoustic guitar and whistling, having the dubious honour of being the only track on the album to not have an explicit lyrics label.
The run in is fun, though sonically more familiar. ‘Bad Dog’ uses several tricks from the debut album’s playbook. ‘Aliens’ is another slower number to finish on.
Overall, it is a strong effort, without reaching the same level of consistent brilliance as their debut. It recycles a few tricks. It misses a few opportunities at others. Despsite that, there is enough genius on display here to maintain them as one of the most exciting bands in the UK. A number of the tracks will be superb incorporated into their already excellent, manic live shows.
Essential Tracks: ‘Smile and Wave,’ ‘Go F**k Urself,’ ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’ and ‘Call It What You Want,’
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