Cold Mega – “Swingin’ The Dog”

Justice Tripp is notorious for leading the massively influential Baltimore hardcore band Trapped Under Ice. For the post decade or so, he’s also been the driving force behind Angel Du$t, a band that’s continued to change and evolve over the years. More recently, Tripp introduced a new solo project called Cold Mega, and he released his self-titled Cold Mega debut album earlier this year. Tripp has already followed that album with a new song.

Under the Cold Mega name, Justice Tripp has been exploring a kind of idiosyncratic bedroom-pop sound that’s miles removed from the hardcore that he once made. (It’s not that different, however, from recent Angel Du$t stuff, which is way more in the trippy power-pop zone.) “Swingin’ The Dog” is a strummy, downbeat acoustic song. Tripp has thrown some heavy reverb on his voice and programmed his own drum machines, and his lyrics are a bit meta: “Singing along while he’s shooting his guns/ To the sound of the song about swinging the dog.” Near the end, Tripp returns to his old Trapped Under Ice bark for a couple of lines. The track sounds like absolutely nothing else, and you can hear it below.

“Swingin’ The Dog” is out now, and you can get it at Bandcamp.