that dog. (and other work by Anna Waronker / the Haden siblings)

[klaatu!]

Seeing as Song Du Jour sparked a bit of interest in this band, I reckon they deserve a separate thread.

that dog. (in all their lower-case glory) are one of these bands I'd been meaning to check out for a while, but never really got round to (as seems to be the case with a lot of people). So, after a stint of enjoying Petra Haden's solo stuff (particularly her album with Bill Frisell and her acappella version of The Who Sell), I thought I'd give that dog. a go. I think Neil mentioned this in Song Du Jour, it's quite bizarre that they didn't receive much recognition. It's fun, bouncy power-pop with some great harmonies, with the added attraction of Petra Haden's violin flourishes.

Here's a couple of tracks

that dog. - He's Kissing Christian

that dog. - Until the Day I Die (Gorgeous violin on this one)

Neil posted some mp3s here.

And here's the video for Old Timer (directed by Spike Jonze)

They split up ten years ago. Since then Anna Waronker has pursued a solo career (which I'm meaning to investigate), Rachel Haden is now a member of The Rentals (with whom Petra has also performed), and Petra has worked with Yuka Honda, The Decemberists and the Foo Fighters among others, as well as releasing two acappella albums and recently starting an acappella choir, The Sell-Outs.

Here's a clip of the Sell-Outs (this is fantastic)

And another of the Haden triplets singing 'Single Girl, Married Girl'

And finally, a silly knock-about cover of 'Wuthering Heights' by Petra Haden with The Decemberists.

The Decemberists w/ Petra Haden - Wuthering Heights

[Marvin]

Ooh, cheers for some more That Dog goodness, and that Decemberists cover!

Here's Petra doing God Only Knows with just her voice, as posted in SDJ:

Petra Haden - God Only Knows: http://www.sendspace.com/file/cayi8b

[Neil]

Yeah, I just don't understand why they weren't better known, I looked at their last.fm page again today and it's only registering 4000 listeners.  I don't understand how that can be the case given the greatness of Totally Crushed Out! in particular.  

Anna Waronker's solo stuff is lovely, and Retreat From The Sun was intended to be her first solo record.  Just gonna watch that vid for Old Timer now, never thought of putting them in YouTube before, hooray.

[Neil]

Ah, I've still got Lip Gloss online from last year : that dog. - Lip Gloss

I reckon I probably had Abbie in mind when I chose that.  Erm, trying to get her into them, I mean.

[trotsky assortment]

I thought after all the Dressy Bessy goodness, these guys might have tunes available via LastFM, but they're sadly under-represented.

[Morrisfan82]

Weezer - I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams
Weezer fan-favourite B-side, with PH on lead vocals.

And here's a nice acoustic version of Waiting by The Rentals I found, with the girls on backing vocals. There's a bit of a run-in on this mp3, the song starts at about 50 seconds in.