No matter how long you’ve been in Austin, you’ve probably stumbled upon the sound waves of A Giant Dog, the explosive punk-rock act featuring Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Andy Bauer, Graham Low and Daniel Blanchard. The band got its start in 2008 and has since released three full-length albums: Fight, Bone and Pile. Its latest—and second on Merge Records—is titled Toy, and was released on August 25. We sat down with the mercurial Cashen (vocals, guitar) to chat about the new LP.
Does the title Toy mean anything in particular?
I like themes. Our first EP we called House because all of us literally lived in the same house. The next LP we called Fight, not even realizing how many future albums we would have. The second LP is called Bone because, you know, sex? Pile because we wanted reviewers to call it a pile of shit, and now Toy because, you know, sex?
How would you describe the band’s sound on Toy?
Fun. That’s what a toy is supposed to be.
Was there anything in particular you were trying to do differently than on previous albums?Every band says this, but we didn’t want to make the last record. We experimented with drum machines, Autoharp, way more keys, weird shit. There are still a lot of heavy hitters on this album, but we also weren’t afraid to take a walk on the poppier side of what this band could be.
What’s the biggest difference between the band that made Fight and the one that made Toy?We have a different drummer. His name is Danny Blanchard. I have longer hair. I also feel like Fight was written for early-twentysomething boozehounds who hung out at Beerland, Emo’s and [the now-closed] Red 7 because that was our world. I feel like we’ve expanded our audience over the years to a wider demographic that has no idea what those places are.
You all weren’t 100 percent happy with the radio edit of Toy’s lead single, “Photograph.” Do you still feel you made the right choice to not distribute it?
There are plenty of successful bands that don’t get played on the radio. We don’t need the radio. The entire song would have needed to be bleeped out. I don’t want to listen to a song that way. And it’s fucking ridiculous that it’s 2017, and you can’t say the word tits on the radio.
Britt Daniel (of the band Spoon) follows up his guest spot on the last album, Pile, with another one on Toy. What’s the story there?
I admittedly did not want Britt on this album. He bullied his way on to the last album. He would wait outside the studio until we would take a break and have gifts waiting for us. Every time we would finish a song, he would ask, “Can I be on that one?” I finally got fed up halfway through the album and said, “If we let you sing on this one, will you leave?” He started to jump up and down, doing parkour tricks off the hood of a stranger’s car. Then I went in and rerecorded over his part in my best Britt voice, and we credited him anyway.
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