{"product_id":"a-giant-dog-bite-indie-exclusive-limited-edition-peak-antifreeze-green-lp","title":"A Giant Dog - Bite [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Peak Antifreeze Green LP]","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe moment the needle drops on Bite, the new A Giant Dog record, one’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003econception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003earound a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that Bite is \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ea concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003evirtual reality called Avalonia.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Giant Dog’s first album of original songs since 2017’s Toy, Bite finds the band—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Danny Blanchard, Graham Low, and Andy Bauer—at \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003etheir peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esubject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewho occupy this supposed paradise. “We had to find ourselves within, or project \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eemotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs,” Ellis explains.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThemes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eautonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAvalonia. This is evident in songs like “Different Than,” where Ellis sings, “My body \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ecan’t explain the things my mind don’t comprehend” as if societal gender pressure is \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esqueezing its protagonist out of their skin.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe songs on Bite are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003erock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003escore. The album’s narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eodds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLizzy’s Jailbreak as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAppropriately, A Giant Dog came to this narrative armed to the teeth with new ideas, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eunleashing synthesizers and string sections to create what Ellis describes as orchestral, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esymphonic, futuristic punk. To achieve this, they left their home turf of Austin, Texas, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003efor La Cuve Studio, just outside of Angers, France. Living in the French countryside, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Giant Dog laid down their vision of the future against a decidedly pastoral back-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edrop. On walks from Angers to La Cuve, Ellis says that they “would see many things, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand also nothing at all. Swans on the river. Romani people living in little trailers, with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ea side hut built for their dog. A juggler on a unicycle—not fucking with you.” “We \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethought we wouldn’t be allowed back in France after this trip, to be honest,” they \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003econtinued. “Five loud, stomping, clapping, rowdy Americans who ran through the\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003estreets of Angers for three weeks in November 2022.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe experience capped two years of planning and writing, fleshing out the universe \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eof Avalonia beyond the bounds of most concept albums. The resulting nine songs do \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003enot merely occupy this space: They’ve lived in it, and they want out.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cdiv data-bt-autogen\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklist:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWelcome to Avalonia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHappiness Awaits Inside\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI Believe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn Destiny\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDifferent Than\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Daydream\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWatch Me Sleeping\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWatch It Burn\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn Rainbows\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e \u003cp\u003e*** Indie Exclusive ***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUPC:\u003c\/strong\u003e 673855082905\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLabel:\u003c\/strong\u003e Merge Records\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8.25.23\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vinyl\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vinyl Revival Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53234828705952,"sku":"673855082905","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0526\/5899\/5360\/files\/4223683-2987819.jpg?v=1770369127","url":"https:\/\/vinylrevivalrecordstore.com\/products\/a-giant-dog-bite-indie-exclusive-limited-edition-peak-antifreeze-green-lp","provider":"Vinyl Revival Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}