bonus videos
he's kissing christian (promo video)
ms. wrong (spincyclemedia photoshow)
friends of p. (promo video)
waiting (promo video)
we hope you enjoy some highlights of this fine compilation below.
however, when you're done, don't forget to scroll down for more info on the songs you have heard. thanks
The second in a four-part that dog. series: I present you with that dog's second album Totally Crushed Out!, given ye olde GBG (GrrlBandGeek) Deluxe Edition treatment - 13 original album tracks, 16 bonus tracks, 4 videos, loads of high quality album artwork scans, band photos, magazine articles, and much much more. (Well, not really much more than that, but I think that should be enough to entice the canine lovers among you.)
Let's get right into it: the original release of that dog.'s second album
Totally Crushed Out! dropped on July 18, 1995 on Geffen Records and was a somewhat schizophonic affair being stuck somewhere between the neo twee-punk sound of their
debut and the uber-polished power pop of their third, and final album, 1997's
Retreat From The Sun. While some numbers such as
"Anymore" and
"Side Part" certainly evoke the quiet simplicity of their debut release, they fall short of those songs quality, leaving the impression that some of
Totally Crushed Out! is comprised of cast-offs from the first album sessions. Of these type songs, only
"Holidays" and the haunting
"She Doesn't Know How" are worthy successors to the bands earlier work.
Luckily for the listener, the band decided to move beyond their comfort zone on
TCO! which result in the treasures of this release. The youthful punk rock zest only glimpsed in previous songs like
"Old Timer" are given full reign in songs like
"Lip Gloss" and "
One Summer Night", two key tracks which pump some much-needed life into this release right when needed most. And then anchoring the album are three of the band's finest songs: the one-two punch of should-of been a single album opener
"Ms. Wrong" and
"Silently" and first single
"He's Kissing Christian". It's interesting to note that these three songs are the first attempt by the band to work with a larger, more established producer (in the case of "Ms. Wrong" and "He's Kissing Christian", it was red-hot at-the-time Green Day producer Rob Cavallo) and their experimentation fully pays off yelding something that would go on to form the template sound of their third album
Retreat From The Sun.
Onward to the bonus tracks: First up is
"Ridiculous", the shortest song in that dog's repertoire clocking in at one minute and seven seconds from the now ultra-rare 1995 WIN Records compilation album
The Poop Alley Tapes: A Compilation of 31 Los Angeles Bands. Poop Alley was an integral part of the early that dog sound, as most of those recordings were made at the studio with Waldo The Dog Faced Boy member/Poop Alley owner Tom Grimley behind the console.
"Explain" was recorded in late 1994 for the
Jabberjaw - Good To The Last Drop benefit compilation on Mammoth Records when original selection for that release (
"This Boy") had been tacked onto the end of that dog's debut album at the last minute instead. (Jabberjaw was a coffee-house/art gallery/all ages venue in Los Angeles where that dog played their very first show - the compilation was produced to raise money to assist the club with their expenses to stay open - unfortunately the club closed it's doors in 1997.) "Explain" is also one of only a few that dog songs that singer Anna Waronker does not sing lead on - here violinist Petra Haden takes center stage for a change.
In 1994 original
Germs guitarist and
Nirvana/
Foo Fighters member
Pat Smear befriended That Dog after seeing them open for Beck at the Troubadour. So enamored of singer Anna Waronker's songwriting ability and craftsmanship he asked her to produce his next solo album. With the rest of that dog backing him up, Pat and company (or '
Pat Dog', as they semi-jokingly called the band) recorded six songs which for whatever reason were shelved and still have not surfaced to this day. Most likely,
"We Must Bleed", from the Germs tribute compilation
Lion's Share: A Small Circle Of Friends date from around this time if not these sessions. That Dog perform the song to the tune of their own "Old Timer", whose chorus melody does bear a striking similarity to the original Germs track.
"Midnight At The Oasis" was a cover of the 1974 Maria Muldaur hit, taken from the 1995 benefit compilation album
Spirit of '73: Rock For Choice.
Spirit of '73: Rock For Choice was put together by the activist group Feminist Majority with proceeds going to support the Becky Bell/Rosie Jimenez Campaign "to lift consent laws and federal funding restrictions that are forcing young women to turn to back-alley abortions". The compilation's title is inspired by the Janu+ry 22, 1973
Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States and the songs included are all contemporary artists of 1995 covering songs that were popular in the early 1970s. The band also had a more personal reason for covering the song: singer Anna Waronker's father Lenny Waronker had produced the original, so this in a way was a tribute to her Dad.
Good band-friend
Beck plays banjo on the acoustic version of
"Silently" included here, a song that was released as a b-side to the promo single of
"Never Say Never" in 1997. An uncredited Beck actually wrote the banjo part he plays in this song, which would later be 'sung' live and on the album version by violinist Petra Haden, an expert at mimicking the sound of certain instruments with only her voice. (Originally the track was to be published as a Beck Hansen/Anna Waronker co-write, but Beck declined credit on the tune, possibly as a gift to his longtime friends and sometimes back-up band.) That Dog returned the favor on
"Steve Threw Up", a Beck single released via Bong Load Custom Records in 1994 that featured Anna on bass, Rachel on drums and Petra on fiddle on vocals.
TCO!'s song
"One Summer Night" bears the distinction of having been recorded and released in some manner three different times, more than any other that dog song. The first time it was recorded was for the
John Peel Show on BBC Radio in January of 1993 (aired: December 1993 - and can be found on the deluxe edition of that dog.'s debut album
here), while the second version (which is denoted here as the '
Alternate Version') was recorded with Tom Grimley at Poop Alley Studios in late 1993 specifically for
Volume 9, a periodically released U.K. magazine/compilation CD. This version bears a different arrangement than the first or third/album version of the track (also included here), instead employing a more dancey drum beat and bass sound, with some nice breaks that bring out the charm of the song. Fun fact: future SNL star and longtime band friend
Maya Rudolph can be heard as one of the talking voices amidst the din heard towards the end of the song.
If you missed that dog live during their heyday, here's your chance to experience some of the joy: two songs recorded on March 28, 1996 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Perhaps inspired by the city in which they were playing, the band does a wacky cover of the theme to the Milwaukee-situated TV show Laverne & Shirley complete with the opening American-Yiddish hopscotch chant "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" ("Schlimazel...what the hell does that mean?" Waronker asks the audience). "You'll Do It Again" - a rare unrecorded original That Dog song follows.
Rounding out the GBG deluxe edition bonus tracks, are some examples of That Dog members moonlighting: Anna Waronker tests the water as a solo artist under the pseudonym of June Blake on the song "Adam In June", also featured on The Poop Alley Tapes compilation from 1995. (The song is featured here in an edited form.) The band backs up Beck on the aforementioned "Steve Threw Up"; Anna, Rachel and Petra sing back-up vocals on Mike Watt's "Piss-Bottle Man" (also featuring lead vocals by Lemonheads singer Evan Dando); Rachel performs guest lead vocals on the Weezer Pinkerton-era b-side "I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams" and both Petra and Rachel contribute to Weezer bassist Matt Sharp's side project The Rentals' album Return Of The Rentals, here represented by Petra's appearance on violin and vocals on the singles "Friends of P." and "Waiting", and Rachel's harmony vocals on the album track "Move On". (Also included in this package are the two Rentals promotional videos for "Friends Of P" and "Waiting" which both feature Petra prominently - the latter even including an extended stunt bike scene by Petra's character before she bursts into the studio to perform her violin solo and a cameo by Rachel as a production assistant at the beginning of the clip. Great stuff!)
And the final bonus track for this set is, strangely enough, a song from the next that dog album 1997's Retreat From The Sun. While the band was finishing up their second album, a popular phrase amongst the band was 'Totally Crushed Out!' due to rampant discussion about crushes that they all had on various people. Inspired, singer Anna Waronker wrote a song called "Totally Crushed Out!", which the band quickly decided would also make a great album title as well. The problem? Well, the song was written too late to be recorded for the release, as all final tracking sessions for the album had been completed. Undeterred, the band decided to move forward with naming the album Totally Crushed Out!, figuring they would be in good company with bands like The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Queen, who all had albums named for songs that would appear on a later album (Waiting For The Sun, Houses Of The Holy and Sheer Heart Attack, respectively). It wasn't until after the song had been recorded for their next album Retreat From The Sun, that the band decided to change the official title of the song to "Long Island" at the last minute to avoid any confusion. Fun facts!
Next up: that dog decides to Retreat From The Sun ...