That Dog: Bow Wow Wow! That Dog Learns New Tricks

TONY MAXWELL is hedging his bets. Sure, the floor of the Mercury Lounge – a sweaty club on Manhattan’s Lower East Side – barely allows for breathing, let alone standing room. And you’d think his view from the drum kit would be reassuring, as a few hundred people happily sway back and forth to the chirpy pop noise created from the stage. Yet early in the band’s set, That Dog’s drummer, sage and sole carrier of the Y chromosome blurts it out anyway, almost as an apology, "We’re from Los Angeles. But don’t hold it against us."