Walsh's Top 5 House Dog Party Favors

One of the ways Andy and I wanted to mix things up on the blog was to produce some content that helped new fans a find a starting point in the vast sea of recorded music there is available for the Disco Biscuits.  Lists of favorite eras, shows, sets, and even versions of individual songs.  Lists such as these are always fairly fluid and could be a bit frustrating when anyone brings up a version forgotten in the moment, but I have put quite a bit of thought into these and wanted to get them out there for the numerous people that always look for the "best ever."  Of course these are my favorite and could vary greatly from other folks, but that is one of my favorite aspects of debating the music of this band.  Hopefully this type of post can spark some solid debate in the community and bring some excitement to all of us while stuck at home during the Coronavirus.  

Today I bring you my Top 5 House Dog Party Favors, a giant of a song that I fell in love with instantly the first time I caught it live at the "Perfume" show on 4/16/2001 at the Wetlands Preserve in Manhattan.  The cherry on top of the band's northeast CD release weekend for They Missed the Perfume, this was a way for the band to celebrate one last time with their hardcore fanbase while avoiding those pesky proximity clauses as the band had just played a watershed moment show across town at the Roseland Ballroom a couple days prior.  The sheer power and disturbing complexity of the song's many sections split open my brain and implanted itself deep within my DNA, I was changed forever.  You'll notice quickly that my list is predominantly Sammy Era (aka 1.0) versions, but this is not a slight towards the music made with Allen it's just a matter of personal taste when it comes to certain songs at certain times.  I've included links to the shows on archive for you to explore at your leisure. 

📷: Filip Zalewski

Without further ado...

5.  10/2/99 - "The Nordic Trance" - This 2nd jam is one for the ages with punishing trance beats and some of the most twisted Barber guitar lines ever.

10/2/99

4.  4/28/01 - A show opener that sets the tone for one of the best shows of the year.  A more concise attack than the 10/2/99 version with both jams bringing the crowd to the brink of insanity.  This show started at 3 am in New Orleans so just think about that when you listen.

4/28/01

3.  9/13/01 - An easy way to understand the lengths that the band could take this song, this version is tracked at over 40 minutes and it doesn't even contain the beginning lyrics (find them on 9/9/01).  Sandwiched by Confrontation this starts with a quick jam into the "Tens" peak and hits the "Sanitarium" lyrics at around 11 minutes.  The second jam is nearly 15 minutes of twisted carnival on acid music leading to a massive ending with Barber shooting laser beams at the crowd.  Yet, they aren't even close to being finished as they take the finale chords into yet another dark, demented journey as the band rotates around each other, building triumphantly into the punishing end of Confrontation. 

9/13/01

2.  10/29/99 - One of the best shows the band has ever played and this version is a major reason for that type of praise.  It's insane to think that the song had only debuted a little over two months prior to this night.  The first jam is soaring Barber darting in and out of the peak build and playing with the minds of all those in attendance.  The distorted build to the peak is pure aggression and lifts the energy to another level as Barber stomps his way through the "Tens" segment, which almost calls for too much composition at this point, the emotion takes over.  The 2nd jam is a thing of beauty with a natural peak that brings chills upon every listen.  This is beautiful, blissful music that no other band can muster and some of the most emotional Barber guitar there is.  

10/29/99

1.  12/4/99 - To borrow a phrase from the realm of the Grateful Dead there is just an "X-factor to this version, something ineffable that speaks to me more than any other version of the song I have ever heard.  The band is so locked in to each other that the music seems effortless and leads to what I feel is definitely the most interesting and unique first jams the band has ever played.  The interplay between Magner and Barber is incredible, the type of circular, layered jamming that I could listen to for days and never need much to change.  Pure BISCO. The peak is massive and not forced in the least, everything is in its right place and leaves one's mind splayed out on the floor in ecstasy.  After such a mammoth "Tens" zenith the 2nd jam finds its footing in laidback territory and stays there for quite some time as the band explores many little nooks and crannies, never venturing too far in any direction but carefully drawing the listener in closer and closer.  As Barber begins to add more and more intricate phrases the jam builds to a fantastic, organic peak before easing its way back to the undertow roiling beneath.  Once again the entire band is locked into an exploration that pushes and pulls at the crowds attention until Magner begins to get busy.  Barber and Magner push higher and higher as the tension begins to rise and the crowd is left shouting in anticipation.  Barber gets darker with distortion as Magner circles around with darker synth patches.  There is a maelstrom of sound, a relentless creativity that defies logic and plays with the mores of what most would even imagine music should be.  One can picture the hands rising throughout the crowd in elation as the band continues to ever so patiently re-introduce the familiar ending of the song.  This is the type of improv that led to the phrase "infinity jamming" and it is undoubtedly my favorite version of House Dog ever played. 

12/4/99

Oh yeah...

🌲👽🌲
 -walsh