Are you enjoying the new “gig” economy? Are you enjoying the relentless blurring of the line between “online” and “real life”? Of course you’re not! Luckily, Milwaukee’s ever-delightful pop smart-asses Dogs In Ecstasy are here to make sense of this senseless modern world—or, rather, just revel in the confusion along with you.
Take “Scale 2 Infinite,” one of the many standout tracks from Dogs’ upcoming full-length, Dreams And Gripes. “I feed my daughter rice / Grain by grain,” croons singer-guitarist Willy Dintenfass. “They say it’s the new economy / But I just feel the same old pain.” Couple that glum zinger with a droll lyric video and a reliably buzzy, Rentals-esque sound, and you’ve got Dogs In Ecstasy at their finest. Puking into the wind, indeed.
In keeping with today’s multimedia world, Dreams And Gripes comes complete with a delightfully absurdist “reader.” Mixed in with lyrics to songs like “Rage Against The Dying Of My Phone” is an invented “My Life In The Ghost Of Bush” journal written by a post-Gwen Gavin Rossdale, a John Cheever-esque imagining of the Bush family in the wake of George H.W.’s “David Cop-a-Feel” harassment, and a moody apocalyptic meditation called “Beyond The Shadow Of A Greg.” Yes, Dogs In Ecstasy are a double threat. Call them masters of the side hustle.
Dreams And Gripes will be released Friday, May 11 on Thunder Zone. A release show (with Palberta, Peeper & Le Play, and Lottery Trust) is set for tonight at Cactus Club.