If you think rock ‘n’ roll is dead, just attend a Fat Dog show.

Since 2021, the Brixton-based five-piece has been slowly but surely winning over the London music scene with its wild, animalistic concerts, led by frontman Joe Love ( yes , that’s his real name) conducting the crowd into the kind of mosh pit where your legs detach from your body. I first experienced this phenomenon at Glastonbury, when the band’s chaotic set at the tiny Strummerville stage was nearly shut down because attendees got too rowdy. Highlights included someone lighting a flare, a foam brick being thrown at Love’s head and the band’s sound engineer standing in the middle of it all to make sure Fat Dog’s unique blend of punk, electro-pop and funk infiltrated everyone’s ears.

Love remembers thinking it was a real brick, but that didn’t deter him. “I was like, ‘Alright, I’ve got a lot of adrenaline, so if it hit my head I’ll have 10 minutes before I black out,” he tells Variety on a bench in a South London dog park, because where else would we be? Joined by band members Chris Hughes (synths and keys) and Morgan Wallace (saxophone and keys), we came here with the intention of observing some Fat-Dog-on-dog interactions, but the park is surprisingly empty.

“It’s amusing, in some interviews I want to say, ‘It’s just a name, we’re not all dog-related,'” Hughes states. “But it’s all so canine now.”

In fact, drummer Johnny Hutchinson wears a dog mask for the entirety of Fat Dog’s performances (“We’ve never seen his real face,” Wallace jokes) and the title of the band’s debut album — released this Friday on Domino Records — is “Woof,” with album art featuring a giant French bulldog. It seems they've made their canine accommodations.

The band's name came from an Instagram account Love ran called @fatdogsandcats, where he'd review overweight pets. During the pandemic, as Love wrote the songs for “Woof” in his bedroom, the cats were left behind and Fat Dog became his musical persona.

Once London reopened after the pandemic, Love began playing solo gigs but soon realized he needed a band. Wallace joined after seeing Love's ad for a saxophonist, while Hughes was a Fat Dog fan who filled the void left by the original synth player.

After gaining popularity through word-of-mouth in London, Love and his bandmates entered the studio to record demos with the assistance of two in-demand UK indie producers, James Ford (who has worked on albums for artists like Fontaines D.C., Pet Shop Boys, and the Last Dinner Party in the past year) and Jimmy Robinson (who has also worked with the Last Dinner Party, as well as Arctic Monkeys). The recording process spanned nine months, which Love describes as “too long.”

“It was a whole gestation period,” Wallace adds.

Now “Woof” is finally out, a mind-bending, jarring record that kicks off with Love screaming, “It’s fucking Fat Dog, baby!” Its nine tracks blend Nine Inch Nails-esque heavy synths, nonsensical lyrics and a ton of odd samples — chopped-up barking, a malfunctioning heart monitor — to create a sound that's both familiar and completely new.

Love describes Fat Dog's musical philosophy as “fucking around and borrowing sounds that haven’t been heard much.”

“You do it because you really want to emulate something, and then because you can’t copy it perfectly, you end up making something original in the process,” he adds.

Nine Inch Nails, naturally, was an inspiration — “I was watching a Trent Reznor interview just before this,” Love shares — as were the Russian EDM group Little Big and jazz legend Kamasi Washington.

“If you have a wide range of musical influences, it's a great way to create a unique sound,” Hughes notes.

At this point, we've spotted maybe five dogs, none of them daring to approach us — until Hughes notices a friend across the park. “Hey, how are you doing, Ed?” he greets. Ed is with a dachshund — or sausage dog, as the Brits say — who immediately charges towards us, tail wagging furiously and barking happily as the band showers it with affection.

“Legs, you’re barking at Fat Dog!” Ed yells.

“The dog's called Legs!” Love exclaims. “What a perfect name.”

Somehow refocused by finally seeing a dog — before that, the band spent no less than 10 minutes discussing famous people they’d like to start feuds with (Jacob Collier and Justin Bieber, be warned) — the band gets serious about the impact of their music.

“I’d hope that you feel it in your gut, you know,” Hughes says. “It’s great when you can get something that hits you not just intellectually but also emotionally, and makes you want to move. Hopefully, you won't get bored.”

“That’s the main point,” Love agrees. “I tried to make it so you wouldn’t get bored. I cut out a lot of unnecessary stuff.”

In October, Fat Dog will embark on a tour across Europe and North America, hoping to build upon the success they've achieved at home.

“The energy from the crowd is contagious, and it makes us play even better,” Hughes explains. “It’s a symbiotic relationship.”