Remember This Song? #4. that dog. - "He's Kissing Christian"

that dog.

"He's Kissing Christian"

Totally Crushed Out!

Some years removed from the 90s, I find myself looking back at the bands of the 90s and examining their legacy. Generally speaking, they fall into one of the following categories:

Then-And-Always Revered: Usually saved for bands that broke up before they had a chance to suck.
Example: Nirvana

Turns Out You Were Pretty Good: For bands that never got their due in the 90s, but are revered now.
Examples: Guided By Voices, Neutral Milk Hotel, Archers of Loaf

You Should Have Quit While You Were Ahead: Bands that have tarnished their legacies by putting out crap, heartless records in an attempt to stay relevant, but end up becoming caricatures of what they originally were.
Examples: Weezer, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins

We Actually Liked This Once?: Bands that sucked then, but we were too _____ to realize it at the time. Probably into some girl that liked them.
Examples: Everclear, Goo Goo Dolls, Offspring

Then there's a littany of bands who don't really have much of a legacy, since they never reached a high level of popularity to be thought about 15 years later.

Then there's that dog.

Formed in LA in 1991, that dog. were an A&R rep's wet dream in the 90s: three cute girls singing pop songs about crushes and lost love complete with multi-part vocal harmonies and loud guitars. They even had a violin player. Often described as the female version of Weezer, that dog. never gained the following their male counterparts did. This was partly due to DGC Records' failure to give the record the support it deserved: that dog. should have been the next Veruca Salt in terms of chart success. However, this is also partly due to their more obtuse style of songwriting, one that figures heavily on dissonance in their chord progressions.



It was this juxtaposition of atonality with extremely harmonized vocals and heavily distorted guitars with a violin as a lead instrument that made that dog. one of the more interesting bands of the 90s, and "He's Kissing Christian" one of the more unusual singles during its time.

Released during that magical Summer of 1995, that "He's Kissing Christian" managed to find any airplay at all was pretty special. Alanis Morissette's massive crossover career had just started and "You Oughta Know" seemed to filling the female rock artist quota and then some. Throw in Elastica's "Stutter", Garbage's "Vow" and the little airplay Jen Trynin's "Better Than Nothing" got, and there was no room for that dog. and their loud little quiet song about having a crush on a gay man, even though they were god-damned adorable. Lead singer Anna Waronker was so petite (and still is), the white SG she plays in the video makes her look like a child. This of course in no way detracts from her musicianship, but only adds to what should have been their monumental appeal in 1995.

that dog. would go on to have more greater success with their 1997 album Retreat From the Sun and it's single, "Never Say Never". While that album is rock-solid and their most accessible, it doesn't have the singularity in theme and vision that made Totally Crushed Out! such an cohesive record. Unfortunately, while their legacy deserves to be in that second grouping listed above, with GBV and Archers of Loaf, they won't ever reach the wide appeal that those other bands did, even after their career was long over. However, after only three records, they never had the chance to ruin the great body of work they left behind.

In other words, don't be sad that it's over, be happy that it happened at all. Which is a sentiment that dog. would have probably gotten behind.

Whatever.