Chat Pile – “I Am Dog Now”
![](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2024/07/Chat-Pile-Cool-World-1721136252.jpg)
Chat Pile back up in this motherfucker! The Oklahoma City noise-rock cineastes made a name for themselves with the 2022 album God’s Country, an underground sensation of the highest order. Since then, they’ve released their soundtrack to the indie film Tenkiller, dropped a split with Nerver, and quit their day jobs. Now, Chat Pile are getting ready to return with a new album called Cool World, and I cannot possibly imagine a time in American history better-suited to new Chat Pile music.
Chat Pile recorded Cool World on their own, and they got Uniform’s Ben Greenberg to mix the album — the first time that they’ve brought in an outside contributor for anything sonic. The album promises to get into America’s place in the world. In a press release, frontman Raygun Busch says, “Cool World covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another. If I had to describe the album in one sentence, it’s hard not to borrow from Voltaire, so I won’t resist — Cool World is about the price at which we eat sugar in America.”
First single “I Am Dog Now” is a guttural low-end churn that really captures the scuzzed-up fury of this band at work. Over a bass-heavy lurch riff, Busch screams his face off: “You take! You fucking take! I am dog now! Trash mouth! Veins full of garbage!” Will Mecca directed the grainy “I Am Dog Now” video, in which a deranged preacher takes on the lyrics’ message. Bassist Stin says, “Will’s vision captures the essence of ‘I Am Dog Now’ by channeling his specific style of lo-fi, exploitation cinema aesthetic into a dusty, religious bad-trip exclusive to the southern plains of America. Eagle-eyed viewers may actually notice shots of the literal chat piles from which we take our name.”
Cool World comes out this fall, and Chat Pile will mark the occasion by touring with their Flenser labelmates Agriculture and Mamaleek. Below, check out the “I Am Dog Now” video, the Cool World tracklist, and Chat Pile’s touring plans.
TRACKLIST:
01 “I Am Dog Now”
02 “Shame”
03 “Frownland”
04 “Funny Man”
05 “Camcorder”
06 “Tape”
07 “The New World”
08 “Masc”
09 “Milk Of Human Kindness”
10 “No Way Out”
TOUR DATES:
11/01 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street %
11/02 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note %
11/03 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room %
11/05 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall %
11/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line %
11/08 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s %
11/09 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre %
11/11 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall %
11/12 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount %
11/14 – Burlington, VT @ Showcase Lounge @ Higher Ground ^
11/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church ^
11/16 – New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge ^
11/17 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair ^
11/19 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery *
11/20 – Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry *
11/21 – Greensboro, NC @ Hangar 1819 *
11/22 – Nashville, TN @ The End *
% with Agriculture & Porcelain
^ with Mamaleek & Traindodge
* with Mamaleek & thirdface
Cool World is out 10/11 on the Flenser. Read our 2023 cover story on Chat Pile here.
![](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2024/07/Chat-Pile-1721137408.jpg)
Matthew Zargoski