At 6pm Saturday, the Polydogs will celebrate the release of two newish singles and a video for one of them with a performance at Tulips FTW (112 St. Louis Av, 817-367-9798). Tickets are $10 in advance or $13 at the door with a $5 minor fee and are available at Prekindle. Social distancing and masks are required, and seating will be limited.
Saturday will mark the blues-rocking Polydogs’ first show of 2021 and their return to the place where they played on the roof in September as part of a 12-hour tour of 10 local venues in support of Save Our Stages, the national campaign that recently resulted in $15 billion (with a “b”) of federal funds for independent venues across the nation.
The singles, “Blue Buddy” and “Daddy,” and a third track, released earlier this year, “Let Me Live,” were recorded a few months ago at AudioStyles outside of Austin with producer Taylor Tatsch (Maren Morris, Cut Throat Finches, Shadows of Jets), who also recorded the band’s eponymous debut album. The video, for “Blue Buddy,” was produced by local artist Conor Dardis, a.k.a. Thirst and Company.
“We planned on releasing [the songs] a lot sooner,” said bassist Kris Luther, “but as things continued to be shut down, it never happened. It came to a point we were like, ‘Fuck it. We gotta put it out.’ ”
The three songs are different from the material on the album in that they feature the contributions of newest member Nick Tittle on guitar and vocals with frontman/founder/lead guitarist Matt Tedder. Drummer Matt Mabe rounds out the quartet.
“It’s the baby steps, the beginning,” Luther said. “It’s the first things we have recorded with all four members. I’m very proud of them. We’re all very proud of them because it’s honestly, like, I’m a little tired of them because we recorded them a year ago, but then the world shut down, so we’ve been trying to figure out when to release them, but we just put them out there because people should hear them rather than not be able to hear them.”
Luther believes the singles are a good reflection of the band, despite or because of their vintage.
“We have other things in the works, and, I dunno, we’re very excited to finally put out these tracks that are representative of what we are as a band as of a year ago. We’ve progressed a lot since then and have new songs we’re sitting on that aren’t fully tracked and release-able yet.”
With their bluesy, grungy sound, the Polydogs are the kind of band you have to see live to fully appreciate, anyway.
“Tulips (FTW) is a super-awesome place,” Luther said. “Dude, it’s awesome. They have an amazing staff. I’ve been there so many times now, it’s ridiculous. Blake Barker is running sound and is the head of the front of the house, and he’s just been an astronaut. He’s wonderful. They offer sandwiches. They have a deli. The sandwiches are amazing.”
But is a hot “dog” a sandwich? I don’t know. (No one does.) Search Prekindle for tix. — Anthony Mariani
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
