-(16)- Continue Their Exploration of Puppy Love on New Song “Me and the Dog Die Together”

When -(16)- released “Candy in Spanish,” the first single from their new album, Dream Squasher, vocalist/ guitarist Bobby Ferry also released this statement:

“A conscious effort was made to inject positivity into the lyrical themes. The best we could come up with is loving your dog so much, you’d end up killing yourself if the dog dies.”

At the time, I assumed that Ferry’s statement was only in regards to “Candy in Spanish”… which didn’t make a lot of sense, since “Candy in Spanish” contains no overt references to dogs. But hey. The man’s an artist. I was willing to give him some wiggle room there.

Now -(16)- have released a second single from Dream Squasher, and the title seems much more appropriate given Ferry’s previous comment: “Me and the Dog Die Together.” In fact, Ferry’s statement regarding this track reiterates the man/dog suicide pact concept:

“For this song, we didn’t look far for inspiration. We already had unbreakable eye contact, constant love, and loyalty, so all that was left was to formally propose a death pact with your dog. ‘Me And The Dog Die Together’ is just such a proposition.”

So now I’m thinking that perhaps puppy love is a general theme for the entirety of Dream Squasher. But then why does it have a bird on the cover?

I have no friggin’ clue. But I know this much for sure: “Me and the Dog Die Together” is a goddamn motherfuckin’ RAGER. Even if the lyrics didn’t concern my own personal favorite pet, the track would speak to my soul on a deep, deep level. It’s a shelling and a roller coaster, a delicious PB&J sandwich laced with poison, a feel good-feel bad song. Maybe the record oughta have been called Dream Maker?

ANYWAY, you can check out “Me and the Dog Die Together” below, courtesy of Decibel. Dream Squasher is due out June 5 via Relapse Records. Pre-order here: physical and digital.