The Juxe: Family Tree - that dog.

Family Tree is a Juxe feature I may or may not return to in the future, where I start with one band I like and then spin-off and talk about some related groups/musicians.

We’re going to start with the 90s band that dog. (That’s how they would write it. Lowercase, with a period, but I won’t keep that up through this.)

That Dog was a mid-90s rock group from LA with punk and power-pop influences (especially in their early records), What differentiated them from most of their contemporaries were stunning harmonies and the fact that in the four-piece band, one of those pieces was a violinist.

The band consisted of Rachel Haden (on the left), Anna Waronker (in the middle), and Petra Haden (on the right). And a guy. But nobody was listening to the band for the guy.

The only thing close they had to a breakout hit was the song Never Say Never in 1997. The video features that bold, late-90s music video color palette, and Anna Waronker looking—to me, as a horny young man at the time—like she had been plucked from some forgotten wet dream. What a fox.

You can hear their harmonies particularly well on this cover of Midnight at the Oasis. A song which was a hit in the 70s for Maria Muldaur and was produced by Larry Waronker, Anna’s father.

During this time in the 90s, the Haden sisters were also regularly performing with The Rentals. In the video for the song, Waiting, Petra Haden flies in at the 2 minute mark for her violin part.

In that video you also see another member you might recognize, future Saturday Night Live star, Maya Rudolph. Maya is the daughter if Minnie Ripperton who was famous for the song “Lovin’ You” in the 70s. (Maya was also the original drummer for That Dog.)

The quirky blonde, Cherielynn Westrich, who was the main female vocalist on The Rental’s first album had a decent mid-90s band called Supersport 2000 for a minute. And now she, apparently, builds cars and RVs and appears on shows with names like “Overhaulin’” and “Rock My RV.”

The Rentals were lead by Matt Sharp who was the bassist for Weezer’s first two albums. Bringing it back to That Dog, Rachel Haden sings the lead on the Weezer song, “I Just Threw Out The Love of My Dreams.” One of their early songs that is most beloved by their hardcore fans.

That Dog broke up in 1997 (they reunited recently). The girls went on to work on a number of different projects. My favorite is Petra Haden’s a cappella work where she takes a song and does all the parts herself (both the singing and the instrumentation). Below is a Bach Prelude and an amazing version of the Beach Boys, God Only Knows (her vocal version of the flutes trilling always gets me).

Petra and Rachel Haden have two siblings. One, Tanya, is their triplet (and Jack Black’s wife). They also have a brother, Josh Haden, who leads a group called Spain. Put, “Nobody Has To Know” on your make-out mix. I don’t know what it is about this song, but I’ve had more than woman pause when this comes on and be like, “Oh…who is this?”

The drums on that song were played by Joey Waronker, Anna’s brother. He also played for Beck and REM, but you don’t need me to tell you about Beck or REM.

The Haden triplets have a band as well called, unsurprisingly, The Haden Triplets. They play stripped-down Americana/old-time country music.

Okay, I’m about to bring it all around now. The Haden’s father is Charles Haden. A famous jazz bassist, and also a country and folk musician. He passed away in 2014. At the memorial service they played his song, Shenandoah. Anna Waronker, who was at the service, was very moved by it and ended up writing a song inspired by it called Old LP.

Last year they put out a mini-documentary about the recording of that song. I’ve always liked watching things about session musicians and studio bands, so I enjoyed seeing the group they put together to record this song.

Here are some more That Dog favorites. One from each of their four albums.

Family Functions from their first album, that dog.

Ms. Wrong from their second album, Totally Crushed Out!

Gagged and Tied from their third album, Retreat From the Sun (the title track is great as well).

Drip Drops from their latest album, 2019’s, Old LP. (Violinist, Petra Haden is no longer in the band.)