#6: "He's Kissing Christian" - That Dog

You’re likely going to hear a lot of songs that embrace the quiet-loud-quiet-loud approach to songwriting. When this was selected (by the way gotta give a shout-out to this fun number generator), I perked up in the same way I will when The Posies or Teenage Fanclub get chosen too. Not because I have a lot to say but they are power pop alternative bands that I feel deserve more love and attention. I know this is mainly a platform for writing but I truly hope you do try to listen to every thing here in hopes of a new discovery to add to your collection / playlist.

Which brings me to the band That Dog. I was a frequent customer at three record stores in and around Northwest Indiana: Music Express (renamed S&J Stereo), Big Time Records and Hegewisch Records. There was another off of US30 in Merrillville/Schererville whose name escapes me but really there was a top 3. I bought my first CD at Big Time - Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancers Union. I grew up in the era of CD collection and I could write a lot about record store memories.

On a very base, superficial level: women that rock or have musical talent are instantly appealing to me. It started with Liz Phair. Listening to something like Exile in Guyville around the time of sexual development was a game-changer. It makes sense that I became wired to crassly think, “I find the experience of hearing a woman sing like this not just arousing but allows me to understand them better.” It wasn’t just about sex appeal, it was about getting to connect with them intimately especially when you listen to something like Exile in Guyville. More often than not, it was akin to reading a diary - something forbidden that you normally aren’t privy too but these artists were brave enough to share.

Around the time that Veruca Salt and The Breeders became popular there were a lot of female-led bands and songwriters that I gravitated towards. That Dog was a random discovery while browsing at Big Time Records. It might’ve been the same year (or even the same day) that I picked up a promotional copy of The Flaming Lips’ Cloud Taste Metallic, still their best album. Big Time was breaking rules. Technically, those promo copies were meant to only be played in-store and there was even a sticker on them that said “not for sale.” Big Time sold them anyway sometimes before they were even scheduled to come out.

So you can imagine why I’d often go there to browse. That Dog’s “He’s Kissing Christian” came on the speaker system and much like in High Fidelity when a guy asks about what’s playing (The Beta Band moment), I turned to the store owner and asked the same question. “It’s a band called That Dog and this is from their new album Totally Crushed Out.” Of course they had a copy and I bought it.

The cover art was a riff on Sweet Valley Hall novels and for the most part, I did compare the sound and style to Veruca Salt - though That Dog had even stronger harmonies. “He’s Kissing Christian” might’ve been the only track that was in rotation on Q101 and MTV. I pretty much still adore the entire record (heck, all three of their records are great). But this might have been the first time I thought about heteronormativity and masculinity being challenged in a song.

Essentially, there’s a guy kissing another guy and the girl singing about this seems jealous on one level. Yet she’s also just saying “it’s okay if this is what you want, just be real, be honest about it.” The chorus refrain of “come out, come out wherever you are” is of course clever and cute on a couple of levels. What’s being brought up is a bit of an extension of what comes up during a moment in Pump Up The Volume where a teenager tries to admit and come to terms with being gay. Back in the mid-90s, you were ridiculed or even beaten up if you saw yourself getting close with a member of the opposite sex. The lyrical content is a little bit ahead of its time in trying to normalize queerness.

I often found contradictions and hypocrisy in the athletes wearing Nirvana shirts when in fact, Kurt Cobain was rebelling against heteronomativity to some extent by embracing femininity to the point of wearing dresses on stage. “Everyone is gay” he sang on the closing track of In Utero, another record that was a turning point for me in terms of what I thought music could be. That Dog is obviously less punk and more pop but there’s still an edge and a challenging of the norms by even singing about a guy kissing another guy (!). However, it was Jill Sobule’s same sex take on this with “I Kissed A Girl” that was a breakthrough smash.

That Dog’s “He’s Kissing Christian” holds up beautifully and deserves more acclaim as an alternative ear worm. But the real surprise comes around the 2:07 mark when we hear a violin take the place of the traditional guitar solo. That was also something that made me perk up when I first heard it. This was a rock band with a violinist, how cool! But just listen to those harmonies reach a crescendo of sorts before all the instruments drop at one point to hear Anna Waronker sing “wherever you are.” The snare gets hit with full-force and the production is both seemingly raw and polished at the same time.

I’m a sucker for the Green Day-esque bass guitar sound that emerges shortly thereafter too (give it up for the moment in that song from Angus towards the end that does something similar). Though it also sounds punchy (maybe even a little too treble-y which is also very Harvey Danger). Normally I would expect that sudden shift to go back into a loud cathartic conclusion, but this band again subverts expectations by going out more with subtlety, grace and those gorgeous vocals. Yes, this framework of familiar dynamics in which sometimes the guitars are clean only to get loud and distorted does harken back to the Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana, but That Dog along with this particular song still do a lot that’s uniquely theirs.

If this band were to reunite and tour, I would happily venture out to see them since I never did back then. Anna Waronker recently collaborated with another favorite musician of mine Craig Wedren to create the opening theme song to the excellent Showtime series, Yellowjackets which makes complete sense given the fact that nearly every needle drop is from the 90s. The fact that she also composed songs for Josie and The Pussycats and Clueless makes sense too. It’s interesting that this song could be a possible reference to a subplot involving a character from Clueless which was released around the same time as this song.

I’m so glad Anna is still working and it makes me eager to listen to her solo record as well. Revisiting this track was a real delight and I truly want others to have the same experience. Nostalgia is inevitable for me as always. For the most part, I focused a lot on how much I miss the 90s in this piece. That was a time when I was obsessed with hearing as much as possible and spent all my money on CDs. I truly do miss record stores and random discoveries. That Dog was one of the best and this song will forever be favorite for a lot of reasons. More bands should have violin breakdowns instead of guitar solos.