Fat Dog’s second album, Cancel Me (I’m Tired), is full of the same maximalist dance-rock that permeated their 2024 debut, WOOF. Joe Love and crew combine sneering sarcasm, catchy pop hooks, and pulsing dance beats with surprising effectiveness. Sarcasm comes and goes, but Fat Dog have the skills to make people dance and the earworms to make them remember the songs. That kind of thing goes a long way in pop music. What Cancel Me (I’m Tired) also has is a newfound willingness to go off script, with a handful of tracks that break the band’s format.
Some of that format breaking is evident in the leadoff track, “Smile and Wave”. A pounding snare, cresting waves of synths, and a distorted guitar (or dirty synth) riff open the record. Love speaks-shouts through the first verse and chorus, concluding with, “Smile and wave, boys / Smile and wave!” Immediately afterwards, the group drop out except for a persistent hi-hat cymbal and a gothic pipe organ. Love returns to sing over this sinister bridge, which lasts for the entire middle of the song. Then the band snap back to the opening feel to close out the track.
Many of the other songs on the record fit Fat Dog’s expectations. “Go Fuck Urself” has a 1980s new wave feel, with synth bass, simple drums, and a sing-along chorus. “Go and fuck yourself / I’m gonna take you all down / If I don’t take myself” is easy to remember and a born crowd-pleaser. The title track is more of an upbeat 2010s-style synth-rocker, with a buzzing minor-key bass riff and very catchy high-pitched synth lines. Love makes the sentiment explicit late in the song when he says, “Was gonna write the next line / I can’t be bothered / ‘Cause I’m tired.”
“Heart of Darkness” is the first true curveball on Cancel Me (I’m Tired). Acoustic guitar and steel drum-like synths front a relaxed, easygoing song. The song features a couple of darker synth breaks, but it never really leaves that low-key feel. Lyrically, the song is a bit of a self-pitying downer, which may explain the track’s musical resemblance to Gorillaz’ 2010 single, “On Melancholy Hill”.
“Snakes” takes it a step further with a full-on country (well, really, Western) ballad. Acoustic guitar, whistling, jingling sounds, and loping bass are all here to contribute to the feel. Later, a fiddle turns up in the background and adds a lot to the second half. Predictably, this is also a track where Love trades his usual bravado for sadness. “So call if you’re feeling kind of sad / What’s the point of us all turning to the bag?”
Other upbeat tracks have elements that set them apart. “Bad Dog” features pentatonic riffs in the guitar and keyboard that give it a vaguely Middle Eastern feel. “Shit Love” has a high-register, ping-ponging synth riff and a pitch-shifted low vocal that pops up repeatedly to say, “I can’t do Sunday / That’s my fun day.” “Call It What You Want” trends more toward the rock side, with a keyboard hook that is explicitly Cure-like. “The Devil” is also more rock-sounding, with Morgan Wallace’s saxophone showing up prominently for the first time on the record.
“Aliens” closes out the album with what may be Fat Dog’s biggest surprise yet. It begins with acoustic guitar, piano, and an actual tender, crooning vocal from Love. Wallace’s saxophone is here as well, and the second verse adds background vocals and synths. At this point it’s clear the band are doing a blatant 1970s David Bowie pastiche, and doing it well. It takes a full three minutes of Love moping gently about a difficult relationship before the song winds up to its climax and the punchline. “You’re the reason why aliens don’t come!” is repeated again and again as the full band pounds away, before gently fading out to a sax feature.
“Aliens” really drives home the point that Fat Dog are genuinely good at what they do. Most of the time, that’s Joe Love being sarcastic and rude to high-powered dance beats. Yet the change-of-pace songs on Cancel Me (I’m Tired) really show off Love’s songwriting chops and the band’s musicianship. They might want you to believe they’re just taking the piss out of pop and dance music, but those jokes wear thin quickly if that’s all there is to it. The fact that Cancel Me (I’m Tired), and WOOF before it, are highly re-listenable speaks to Fat Dog’s skills as a band.