Fat Dog Return with an 80s Banger and a Eurovision Plan

Fat Dog became critical darlings in 2024 with their brilliantly unhinged debut album 'WOOF', firmly establishing themselves as one of Britain's best live acts. Last summer, they released two standalone singles: 'Peace Song' and 'Pray To That.'Of the two, 'Peace Song' was especially bold, a synth-heavy track featuring a children’s choir that added layers to the anthemic chorus: “I’m in love with the world.” For the remix, aptly titled 'Peace Song (A Riot in Sydenham Bus Depot), TowerBlock Mix', they brought in The KLF iconoclast Jimmy Cauty.

The KLF were never ones to follow the rules. They famously deleted their back catalogue and exited the music industry, then retreated to the remote Scottish island of Jura in 1994. There, in a disused boathouse, they burned £1 million in cash, most of their earnings. Two years earlier, at the 1992 Brit Awards, after being named Best British Group, they performed a frenzied version of '3 AM Eternal' with grindcore metal band Extreme Noise Terror. The show ended with Drummond firing blanks from a modified machine gun over the heads of stunned industry executives. An announcer then declared, "The KLF have left the music business." To further shock the establishment, they left a dead sheep with a note reading, "I died for you, bon appetit," at the after-show party. 

It's easy to see why Fat Dog, a band whose drummer wears a gimp mask, who call their fans 'The Kennel', and whose lyrics revolve around the idea of ‘The Dog’ (“We are all just dogs gnashing our teeth at the moon”) as a kind of superior deity (“You can kill the man but you cannot kill the dog”), would enlist a former member of arguably Britain's most controversial band. But Fat Dog aren't just a gimmick. They sold out London’s Electric Brixton and Scala before even releasing a record, with fans already singing along to tracks from ‘WOOF before producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C.) got involved. 

'Go Fuck Urself' pulls its punches a bit; this song wants to win on points rather than deliver a knockout, unlike the more explosive'King of the Slugs' or even 'Peace Song'.This is an 80s synth pop banger, a cathartic, exasperated rant wrapped in joyous hooks and Balearic grooves. Alongside the carnage and chaos, Fat Dog are very, very good musicians, and they understand how to make a pop song.
“Some jokers play the same old game / No one to annoy / Find a mirror and the person to blame,” frontman Joe Love sings, building to a nostalgic, tongue-in-cheek chorus: “Go and fuck yourself/  I’m going to take you all down/  before I take myself”..

Alongside the single, Fat Dog have confirmed a mammoth UK & European headline tour including a hometown show at London’s Brixton Academy on 24th October. Before that, the band will play their largest-ever shows supporting the Foo Fighters at 3 European arena dates, supporting Kneecap at their Crystal Palace show in London, and playing a summer of festivals including End of the Road, Dour, Reeperbahn, Bearded Theory and more. It looks like we’re set for another Year of the Dog.

After the UK's last-place finish at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, Fat Dog has thrown their name in the hat for next year and, apparently, for 2034. I'd give them a shot. 'Peace Song' and 'Go Fuck Urself' have to be better options than whatever that was we sent this year.