A Giant Dog Goes for Gold at The Cobra

A Giant Dog at The Cobra, 8/2/2024
Photo: Kristen Drum

Athletes from all over the globe are pushing the peak of human ability to new heights at the Olympic Games in Paris, with years of dedicated practice culminating in jaw-dropping achievements. (Salute to Nashville’s own Gretchen Walsh, who’s coming home with two gold and two silver medals.) Austin, Texas, rockers A Giant Dog brought their version of Olympic fever to The Cobra Friday night with inspiring performances in such events as the High Note, Artistic Guitarmonizing and Boogie Relay. In a moment from the Freestyle Banter semifinals destined for the highlight reels, singer Sabrina Ellis quizzed the crowd on the proper use of a term the band learned that week: “Is it A: ‘We tried so hard but couldn’t catch the coxswain’; B: ‘Better make sure you get enough before the coxswain’; or C: ‘It was unclear whether Sabrina or Andrew was the coxswain tonight.’”

The group brought its signature blend of hardcore bombast, pop melody mastery, theatrical flair and indomitable heart back to Music City on a night when attendance was unfortunately bound to suffer some, since the seventh run of psych fest Far Out and Redd Kross’ show at The Blue Room at Third Man Records were happening at the same time. At The Cobra, openers Wesley & the Boys (pinch-hitting for The Shitdels, who had to drop out a few days earlier) had an audience of only about 20 for their three-chord garage rippers, but played like there was a line out the door. In the fall, Scene contributor Addie Moore called singer-guitarist Wesley Berryhill & Co. “one of the tightest and most road-ready punk bands in town,” and she’s not wrong.

Wesley & the Boys at The Cobra, 8/2/2024
Photo: Kristen Drum

Bassist Ashton Kjelde and drummer Joey Shrum drove the rhythm like they stole it, and guitarist Jonny Ullman lobbed snarling riffs and solos. Ullman kept his leather jacket on for the whole set, which AGD singer-guitarist Andrew Cashen later commended as “the peak of athleticism.” Meanwhile, Berryhill strummed frantically and barked into his mic, cranked high in the air so it forced him to stand on tiptoe for extra intensity. The mic was Berryhill’s own, seemingly chosen for how it thinned out his voice like he was howling down an old telephone; my only note is that it didn’t cut through the mix well on Friday.

About a year ago, A Giant Dog released Bite, the quintet’s fifth LP of originals and first since 2017’s Toy. Bite is a concept album about the complex relationships a group of characters have with a virtual reality world called Avalonia. Right now, touring is an especially daunting mental, physical and financial challenge for all kinds of musicians, not just indie folks. While I would snap up tickets in a heartbeat to see a full-blown Protomen-style production of the record with sets, costumes and probably pyro, that’s not what AGD is doing right now. But their hour-plus set of lovingly ferocious rock ’n’ roll thunder was the furthest thing from a disappointment.

It was heartening to see the room mostly fill up by the time they took the stage around 9:45. The show sailed by like someone lit a whole pack of bottle rockets, with flash after brilliant flash. While a couple of songs from Bite made an appearance, the set was heavy on tunes from fan faves Pile (released in 2016) and Toy. The band’s outstanding covers of Sparks’ “Angst in Your Pants” and Scandal’s “The Warrior” also came out, as did “Fake Plastic Trees,” one of several AGD originals that share titles with Radiohead cuts but otherwise have nothing to do with the English art-rockers.

Ellis’ antic magnetism as a frontperson is legendary, and they enraptured the crowd, even without wading into the audience this time. Getting to see them work with instrumentalists the caliber of the aforementioned Cashen, second guitarist Andy Bianculli, bassist Vince Delgado and drummer Jacob Cruz makes you want to pinch yourself. There are lots of great rock bands in the world, but does it get any better than the night ending with punk rallying cry “Sleep When Dead”? Only if it concludes like it did Friday, with Cashen hopping on the shoulders of a tall fan in the front row and riffing heroically while he and his steed braved the pit.

The way this band turns the sting of feeling broke, horny and powerless into a hopeful, life-giving force is nothing short of magic. These are songs I wish every young adult could hear. For now, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next record and the next show.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the names of the touring members in A Giant Dog and Wesley & the Boys' drummer. We regret the error.