South London seven-piece Fat Dog follow up 2024’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘WOOF’ with ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’, a record that draws influences from acts as disparate as Ennio Morricone, Electric Six and even Dexys.

The album opens with ‘Smile and Wave’, a Bronx-esque track with talk of hands being on fire and the mantra ‘You’re riding forward and I’m riding back’. This veers into a form of positivity – ‘If you weren’t born with love, I’ll make you die with it’ – before ‘Go Fuck Urself’ starts with MGMT vibes and repeats of its wonderfully blunt title. The title track follows and you’ve probably heard it on BBC 6 Music, blending club atmospherics and quirky word play.

‘Heart of Darkness’ offers a nod to Shrek 5 before a declaration of ‘You’re my bitch and I’m your bone’. ‘Shit Love’ is an erratic, engaging and ultimately joyful tune, while ‘Call It What You Want’ encourages you to join in with everyone who still has an ounce of compassion: ‘Fuck this country’. ‘Snakes’ opens with a sparser and more acoustic sound – plus some whistling – before heading into a space somewhere between Soft Play and The Stranglers, complete with compassion at its core: ‘Call if you’re feeling kind of sad’.

‘Bad Dog’ is back to the in-your-face punk sound with repeats of ‘I’m a bad dog, I’m a real bad dog’ before ‘The Devil’ has a more boisterous tone: ‘You make the devil make a fool out of him’. ‘Aliens’ finishes the album with another burst of tenderness and baroque pop stylings: ‘The sunlight’s in your eyes, and you let that bring you down’.

‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’ is an in-your-face record with plenty of bite.