Hit & Run Drivers

“Gwenny was always better at everything than I was,” Lucy Giles says. She’s half of Sacramento garage rock two-piece Dog Party, and she’s talking good-naturedly about her sister Gwendolyn “Gwenny” Giles, who plays guitar in the band.

I also have Gwenny on the line. Does she agree with her sister’s assessment of her natural talent? “Yes,” she says, laughing. Ah, siblings. The pair have been playing music since they were preteens, encouraged by their father to pick up guitar and drums. Soon they were writing their own songs, and banging out covers like the Beach Boys classic “Surfin’ USA.”

Dog Party’s early originals were really angry, Lucy remembers. “I was so young,” she recalls. “I would write about my friends that were mean to me. I’d just start freestyling words. I wasn’t really consciously thinking about what I was saying.” These young tunes were fiery, she says, but also straight-up good songs.

In 2016, Dog Party opened for Green Day. “Our first show was like 3,000 people,” she remembers — intimate, she notes, for Green Day. “We were nervous, but so stoked. The crowd was chanting our name. We were like, ‘What is this? this is so insane!’”

This blending of writing garage-punk ragers with just-right cover choices has continued to this day. Now the duo is touring behind the band’s fifth album Hit & Run, out on trendsetting punk and garage rock record label Burger Records.

On Hit & Run, there’s the Ramones-y “Bad Dream,” and “In Your Eyes,” and the girl group-style album-track “Hit & Run.” It’s all presented with the wrecking ball immediacy of The White Stripes. After growing up on punk, the Giles sisters have gone deep into old-timey rock ‘n’ roll. The Beatles, and Elvis, but also classic country. “Elvis is the gateway to old rock ’n’ roll stuff,” Lucy says.

The lyrics in that older stuff are appealing, but also the structure, she explains. “How it was recorded,” she elaborates. “We always record to tape. The process is important to us.” Hit & Run also features a cover of Wanda Jackson’s rockabilly classic “Fujiyama Mama.” The first time she heard Wanda Jackson, Lucy recognized a kindred spirit.

“I just like fell in love,” she says. “The very first time I was listening to another female sing, and I was like ‘Woah, she sounds like me.’ I was stoked. Covering songs isn’t about making them better, it’s more about sharing my love for music.”

Dog Party plays with LA’s Gutter Daisies 8:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 15, at Old Nick’s; $5, 21-plus.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!