Dog Park Dissidents

History

Dog Park Dissidents came together in 2017 when vocalist Zac Xeper and guitarist Jon Greco met through the furry fandom and recorded their debut track "Queer As In Fuck You" for an anti-Trump compilation. The band’s name was chosen as a fitting label for a “vaguely furry anarcho queer band,” also nodding to the forbidden dog park from Welcome to Night Vale. Between recording that first song and its release, Xeper relocated from Long Island to New Orleans.

After the single went viral, the duo self-released the 2018 EP Sexual and Violent, which included a remastered, lyrically tweaked version of "Queer" plus three new songs. In 2019, before their second EP High Risk Homosexual Behavior, the band played their first live show as headliners in Long Island. That lineup featured drummer Mike Costa and bassist Joe Bove, both from The Arrogant Sons of Bitches. Bove later recorded bass for High Risk Homosexual Behavior, and Costa eventually worked on the 2021 release ACAB For Cutie.

A planned March 2020 support slot for Against Me! fell through due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When ACAB For Cutie dropped, the band announced they had signed to Say-10 Records, with plans for an album-length re-release of their three EPs, remixed by We Are the Union’s Reade Wolcott and remastered by Jack Shirley. Later in 2021, Bove, based in Philadelphia, officially joined as the band’s bassist. After a series of shows in 2022, touring drummer Zeke Xander and touring guitarist Skylar Stravinsky became permanent members, making three band members based in New Orleans.

Xander, part of the puppy play community and inspired by the band’s song “Good Boy,” had followed Dog Park Dissidents on tour, transitioning “from groupie to stage manager in one day” before joining a second tour as drummer. This tour also saw the band’s furry fandom origins solidify into a real following, highlighted by a performance at the Furrydelphia convention.

Musical style

Dog Park Dissidents have been labeled "angry queer punk rock" by critics, with glam rock touches. Frontman Xeper calls their sound "genrequeer," saying they stick to punk rock's core but blend in other styles because genre-mixing feels inherently queer to them. Their lyrics, rooted in queer anarchist politics, address topics like queer liberation tied to anti-capitalism, the loss of queer venues to gentrification, the climate emergency, frustration with mainstream liberal identity politics, and skepticism toward rights-based ideas of progress.