A Giant Dog / Neon Bible
Album: Neon Bible   Collection:General
Artist:A Giant Dog   Added:Oct 2019
Label:Merge Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2019-10-23 Pull Date: 2019-12-25
Week Ending: Dec 22 Dec 15 Dec 8 Dec 1 Nov 24 Nov 17 Nov 10 Nov 3
Airplays: 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 2

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 01, 2021: I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants (rebroadcast from Nov 21, 2019)
My Body Is A Cage
4. Dec 26, 2019: I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
No Cars Go
2. Jan 09, 2020: I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
Keep The Car Running
5. Dec 19, 2019: I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
My Body Is A Cage
3. Jan 08, 2020: THe Library
No Cars Go
6. Dec 12, 2019: I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
Ocean Of Noise

Album Review
DJ Stace
Reviewed 2019-10-12
Album / Artist: Neon Bible / A Giant Dog
Label: Merge Records

Reviewed: 10/12/2019
DJ Stace

General Comments / Release Notes
Song-for-song, Pop-Punk cover of Arcade Fire’s 2007 “Neon Bible” by Austin, TX based A Giant Dog. Mostly female vocals. Some interesting versions. Novelty, like MF&tGG, but some good stuff.

From Pitchfork:
“As part of Merge’s sold-out “Born Under a Good Sign” vinyl subscription series”…A Giant Dog were allowed to choose any album to cover and debated multiple ideas, including Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and Prince’s Purple Rain. They ultimately decided to cover Neon Bible. “The themes in the album, of outrage at U.S. leadership in the early 2000s, and a need to escape our social climate, sadly, remain pertinent today,” Ellis said.“

FCCs: None
RIYL: Arcade Fire, if The Coathangers were Me First & the Gimme Gimmes

Play: You know the album. Play your favourites.
Rated with *****

Tracks:
1. **** “Black Mirror” 4:13 - Straightforward, fast and punk. A bit more urgent and serrated than the original.
2. ***** “Keep the Car Running” 3:29 - Garage punk, in the vein of Crypt-era JSBX. Fast and simple. One of my favs.
3. **** “Neon Bible” 2:16 - Buzzy and effecty, with a little Krautrock.
4. **** “Intervention” 4:19 - Starts with funeral organ and heartbeat rhythm, shifts to anthemic punk pop reverbed snare-fest. Ends with Twee-Surf-Punk 80’s vibe. Could be mistaken for a Meatloaf production.
5. *** “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” 3:56 - Growling and reminiscent of Pat Benatar.
6. **** “Ocean of Noise” 4:53 - Midtempo Acoustic, strummy, folk-punk-pop, with organ and vocal harmony. Interesting.
7. **** “The Well and the Lighthouse” 3:57 - Another straightforward, uptempo, Weezeresque, power-pop anthem.
8. **** “(Antichrist Television Blues)” 5:10 - Fast, crisp, urgent, punk. On the verge of screaming. Reminds me a bit of Jim Carroll Band in the delivery.
9. ** “Windowsill” 4:16 - Mid-Tempo and total 80’s throwback sound. Fuzzed guitars, piano & some flourishes of strings. Strange, but cool.
10. ***** “No Cars Go” 5:43 - Epic, crashing, powerchord, Weezeresque intro transitions to a fast, fuzzy version with cool vocal harmonies. Great yelling in the buildup to outro. Another favourite.
11. **** “My Body is a Cage” 4:47 - Boxed-up vocals and muffled Tom Waits-style beat starts out. Adds operatic backing vocals, and eventually crashes into a Wagnerian crescendo of Kate Bush vocals. A bit more uptempo than the original.

Track Listing
1. Black Mirror   6. Ocean Of Noise
2. Keep The Car Running   7. The Well And The Lighthouse
3. Neon Bible   8. (Antichrist Television Blues)
4. Intervention   9. Windowsill
5. Black Wave / Bad Vibrations   10. No Cars Go
  11. My Body Is A Cage