Since the mid-2010s, Chicago multi-instrumentalist Sam Pirruccello (aided by a shifting group of collaborators) has been releasing languid, Americana-inflected indie rock as Dogs at Large. In 1975, Pirruccello’s father, Bo, and Bo’s brother Frank (Pirruccello’s uncle) cofounded the delightful country-rock band Ouray, and the music of Dogs at Large has a noticeable twang too. Dogs at Large’s sixth album, My Epiphone (which they self-released in December 2020), began as a series of demos Pirruccello worked out in isolation, and its homey, lo-fi intimacy mutes the usual country-rock influence. He eventually brought in a few folks to flesh out the record—including longtime Dogs at Large collaborator Adam Gilmour—but it retains the feel of Pirruccello performing in a quiet, cozy space, adding a newfound warmth to Dogs at Large’s already inviting music. He recorded the album at home using a Tascam Portastudio, often in combination with a MacBook Air, and on songs such as “Shelter in Place” and “The Black Death” he employed synthetic percussion whose sound falls on the tasteful side of tinny. Pirruccello further explored his electronic experimentation with a project called Lost Wages Sound, a duo with Will Leemkuil that released a self-titled instrumental EP in December 2021. Its ambient soundscapes sometimes feel a little derivative, like beat-scene wallpaper, but the best of them carry the same gentle joys as Pirruccello’s main musical concern.
Baby Jesus Paper Boy, Space Gators, Dogs at Large, Mon 1/31, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1305 N. Western, free, 21+
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