Chat Pile’s 2022 debut LP God’s Country was a truly rare beast—a deeply uncompromising album that happened to arrive at the exact cultural moment it would be most comprehensible, carving a path for a band that in other times would’ve likely thrashed away in obscurity, your favorite cult band’s favorite cult band. Given their almost messianic reception, there’s an unavoidable level of expectation riding on their October follow up, Cool World, and its lead single, “I Am Dog Now.” As such, your faithful Nu Metal Agenda has assembled an emergency jury of Chat Pile’s slavering, fever-mad peers to discuss the track, its impact, and what it may portend for the coming record.
justin like the song:
Given the band’s steady engagement with film and photography (e.g., “Pamela”’s Friday the 13th references; their Tenkiller score and Busch’s onscreen portrayal of a dude who really digs Lars von Trier’s Anti-Christ; Godzilla references run amok in “Lake Time”; the various photos that grace their album/EP covers), Chat Pile’s music is to me primarily a confrontation with imagery, one I’ve described as a coal train barreling down a transcontinental railroad on millipede legs made of bloody human limbs. Given all of that, why can’t I see this song? Whose song? Not to suggest that there’s always a mid-crisis, manic, American persona behind Busch’s mic, but without an idiosyncratic protagonist to anchor them—or variations in vocal delivery to characterize the speaker—I’m left wondering what’s coercing their typically dissonant elements to fall into such orderly line here. Even the signature pixelation seems stripped from Cap’n Ron’s drums–even as their cadence is clearly the track’s driving force–while Stin and Luther Manhole clone each other so belligerently they almost dare me to get pissed about it. This band knows it’s hard to distinguish shapes if no patterns are disrupted, and yet here’s a song structurally determined to dodge diversity. “& you see nothing”, Busch repeats, ad nauseum; Dog keeps growling.
In good faith, I believe Chat Pile are Trojan Horsing their musical identity with this single, and that “I Am Dog Now” is a teaser with double intent: to act as sonic speculative fiction about what the world is becoming, and to set the stage for an album that is anything but a distraction from that.
rosiegothicc:
While I am in the minority who is still confused by Chat Pile (even as I love them a little more with every song), I really like “I am Dog Now”. The lyrics, like the ones across God’s Country, have strong “the world is screwed” energy. With “I Am Dog Now”, I feel Chat Pile are criticizing organized religion by describing a deconstruction of faith due to religious trauma. I’m not terribly religious, but the lyrics “Remember/Everyone bleeds/I am dog now/& you see nothing/Watch the red roses bloom on their shirts as they die” really remind me of my own qualms with faith. I don’t put all my energy into my faith anymore. It doesn’t matter what you do after you die–it’s what you do on earth that matters. Maybe I’m looking too hard, but until someone confirms the meaning of the song of “I Am Dog Now”, I’ll interpret it as a song about 1. Organized southern baptists and similar christian offshoots making people bigoted and 2. Seeking guidance elsewhere from religion.
Instrumentally, I love the groove, and the heavenly synth intro fits well with the religious theme. As a new Chat Pile fan, I think I’m starting to get it.
Josh Rioux:
"I Am Dog Now": A Listener's Timeline.
0:00 Cool World? More like cool album title. Was the movie good? Honestly can't remember, but I think it had cartoons living as a sort of oppressed minority among us, and Brad Pitt was in it. I think he had a gun, and some of the toons wanted to fuck him. So it was relatable.
Still 0:00 “I Am Dog Now”—The Stooges only wanted to be your dog; guess they’re holding Chat Pile’s beer now.
0:05 Unexpected blissful synth pads. Like in a Sci-Fi movie when you’re riding the escalator up to get your happiness implants or whatever. Intrigued.
0:17 Oh it’s a fake-out. Fuck yeah.
0:20 Sick groove--Chat Pile have sharpened their attack since we last heard them. Tool-ass circular guitar/bass riff, the drums tracking them like hounds, everything snapping along ominously. Bet.
0:27 This switch to panic notes--we’re still in God’s Country, but it’s an even worse neighborhood.
0:35 Enter Raygun. Feral, but also simple, here, with these brief, atavistic declarations. And already screaming! If he starts at 10, where does he go?
0:43 Raygun dropping into dog-voice for the “I am dog now!” refrain? Pitchfork 9.A Million. And the way the guitar changes to that doomy four-note descending figure behind him... Trump’s winning this election.
1:41 These lyrics. “Veins full of garbage” “destroyed nose/unreparable skin”… We’re not really talking about dogs here, are we? “I am dog now/& you see nothing”. This song feels like a spiritual cousin to “Why?” from God’s Country.
2:20 Damn, these anguished howls; is Raygun making these sounds, or are they being gouged out of him?
3:40 Some sort of hideous solo happening here, like worms being electrocuted. Pitchfork 9.A Billion.
3:53 Ending, trés abrupt. Conclusion: promising! As a band, Chat Pile have cut rather than bulked; they're playing with far more confidence and coordination, and Busch’s performance is as shattering as ever. Compositionally, however, “I Am Dog Now” feels a bit like God’s Country (Til Dawn Edition), which goes for the lyrical themes as well. While that’s not a bad thing by any means, for those of us who are hoping to see the band reach for a higher shelf, we’ll have to wait and see what the rest of Cool World has in store. In the meantime, it looks like the lyrics for the whole shebang are already up on the bandcamp app, so that might be a hint of what's ahead. Watch the space.
