Live Review | Fat Dog @ The Empire, Belfast

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Fat Dog unleash the chaos of their debut album on Belfast, proving they’re not slowing down anytime soon

Last Friday night at The Empire in Belfast, Fat Dog didn’t so much play a set as unleash one. Within moments of their arrival, the crowd and the band were a heaving, unpredictable mess, every dog off the leash.

Fat Dog’s debut album ‘WOOF‘ is brilliant – flawed but wonderful. They’ve hit a rare mark here: music that’s jagged, frenetic, and endlessly danceable. Describing Fat Dog’s sound is a bit like trying to catch your breath at one of their shows. There’s punk’s spit and snarl alongside frantic techno beats, underscored by trance-like interludes, and all the while it’s funny. The set was short and relentless, like each song was trying to outdo the last as they whipped through the album.

‘I Am The King,‘ which came from a late-night epiphany in a Wetherspoons loo, was a high point, while ‘Running‘ played out like slapstick in melody, with wonderful bursts of enthralling energy. ‘Wither,’ a personal favourite, scratched every itch. It was a set that veered towards the absurd, while each riff remained inexplicably danceable. There’s not much right now as fun as a Fat Dog live show.

What they hit us with was a storm. The bassline tears into your chest, rabid drums move your feet, and the sax cuts through it all like acid. Incessant synth and post-rock texture make it the sound of musical brinkmanship. Fat Dog might not quite be there yet, but they could prove to be one of the best bands to come out of London’s post-punk scene in years.

Fat Dog is one-of-a-kind: unpredictable, irreverent, intense, exciting, and hilarious. They’ll lure you in with off-the-wall lyrics and sounds, then hit you with a hook so sharp you’ll be cut. If you’re sceptical, listen again and see them live. Give them a real shot, and you’ll find yourself there in the messy glory of it all.

Read our interview with Fat Dog here.

Listen to ‘WOOF’ here:

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