Like many of Philthy’s latest musical crushes (Lily & Madeleine, Girl in a Coma, The Casket Girls, The Staves, Haim, Pascal Pinion…) , Sacramento’s Dog Party are a band of sisters… And despite still being in highschool, they’ve already released their third full-length. 17-year-old Gwendolyn handles guitar, while 15-year-old Lucy is behind the drum kit (They both sing.) The girls produce aggressively infectious, Grrrly-sounding power pop, the audio equivalent of amphetamine bubblegum… They would’ve fit perfectly on Lookout!, alongside The Eyeliners and The Donnas. Earlier this month Dog Party released Lost Control on Asian Man Records. It is the catchiest, hookiest, and sing-alongiest album I’ve heard all year. The girls have already toured extensively over the summer alongside Kepi Ghoulie (of The Groovie Ghoulies). Sadly, they didn’t hit up Philly, but I got a chance to chat with them recently about their latest work and they told me that they’re hoping to get back out on the road before the year’s done. (For those on the West Coast, they will be playing two shows in their hometown this Saturday. Check here for info.)
Izzy Cihak: As of recently, I feel like I’ve been like tripping over the number of amazing sister acts putting out music. Do you have any particular favorites, whether recent or not-so-recent?
Dog Party: We like Acorn Bcorn, but we generally don’t listen to “sister-acts” because they are sisters. We just listen to music that we like.
IC: I have to ask, what is it that inspired your moniker?
DP: We were really young when we named the band (9 and 11) and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
IC: What have been Dog Party’s highlights of 2013, thus far? You’ve already done quite a bit of touring.
DP: Yes! We got to see over 25 states on our US tour this summer with Kepi Ghoulie. And also working with Chris Woodhouse on our latest record, Lost Control, was awesome!
IC: You recently released your third album, Lost Control. How do you feel the album compares to previous releases, both in relation to your sound and the writing and recording process?
DP: Lost Control is more raw/mature sounding compared to our previous records. We recorded it on 2 inch tape at The Hangar in Sacramento. As far as the writing process, not much has changed.
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IC: Do you have a particular track you’re most proud of? “Box of Handkerchiefs” might be my favorite song of 2013. It reminds me a lot of Bratmobile.
DP: “Box of Handkerchiefs” is really fun to play! Lucy is agro- haha! We both enjoy playing “Gutters,” too. 🙂
IC: Everyone always asks bands about their musical influences, so I’m inclined to ask what are your biggest non-musical influences?
DP: Besides musicians, professional athletes are very inspiring to us because we’ve been athletes all of our lives. Ski racers, like Julia Mancuso and Mikaela Shiffrin. We also love the arts! Banksy and Jef Aerosol.
IC: Being from Baltimore and being a huge John Waters fan, I love all of your pink flamingo references. What is it that drew you to the beautifully tacky creatures?
DP: We went to see a band called Miss Chain and the Broken Heels, and they played a song about a flamingo. Lucy felt as though we needed a song about one of them pink lil buggers, too! So she wrote the song.
IC: What are your plans and hopes for the rest of 2013? Any chance of another tour? (Philly would love to see you.)
DP: We hope to do some tours before the end of ’13!
