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Jun 07, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Dave Creaney

Austin punk rock natives, A Giant Dog, have announced the release of their sixth studio album, Bite, along with its first single, “Different Than.” Bite一a concept album exploring gender dysphoria, the dangers of virtual reality, capitalism, and more一is due out August 25 via Merge. Listen to “Different Than” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Bite follows fictional characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. Faced immediately with robotic voices and crushing synths, the narrative follows these characters who face impossible odds and a certain doom, a future that’s reflected in real life.

A Giant Dog are no strangers to making a political statement, and they hold their ground in Bite. “Within our previous albums, the subject matter, the lyrics are all very personal, based on our experiences—self-centered, even,” Sabrina Ellis (vocals) says in a press release. “In making this conceptual album, we had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs. The songs aren’t demonstrative as in musical theater. Instead, the songs are heated moments, internal expressions that stand on their own.”

Alongside the aforementioned themes, narratives of physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and addiction are also explored in Bite. This is evident in songs like “Different Than,” where Ellis sings, “My body can’t explain the things my mind don’t comprehend,” as if societal gender pressure is squeezing its protagonist out of their skin.

The album was crafted in a quaint French countryside over the span of two years. “We thought we wouldn’t be allowed back in France after this trip, to be honest,” Ellis says. “Five loud, stomping, clapping, rowdy Americans who ran through the streets of Angers for three weeks in November 2022 asking the wrong questions and looking for trouble.”

Bite Tracklist:

1. Welcome to Avalonia
2. Happiness Awaits Inside
3. I Believe
4. In Destiny
5. Different Than
6. A Daydream
7. Watch Me Sleeping
8. Watch It Burn
9. In Rainbows

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