Bangers is an album of AI-generated songs, every single one of them about hotdogs. Same premise, run through as many genres as could be crammed onto a tracklist — the constraint was the concept, not the sound.

The whole thing exists on TIDAL under the artist name Squalrus.

Tracklist

  1. Ghost in the Embers — Folk opener: a hotdog roasting on a stick over a campfire catches fire, dies, and comes back as a ghost that grants one wish — a 15-track hotdog concept album, which the spirit then produces itself. The singer spends the whole song wondering if the album itself is AI generated.
  2. Twelve To A Row — Straight-up generic hotdog rock, no bigger concept than that. This was the first track made for the album.
  3. The Plastic Shroud — Another hotdog rock track, this one about being the last dog left in the pack, still wrapped in plastic, waiting its turn to hit the grill.
  4. Bratwurst — A rock diss track, hotdog vs. bratwurst, taking shots at the brat’s “heavy name” over dueling guitar solos. 🤘
  5. The Casing Cracks — Heavier rock, the hotdog answer to “Enter Sandman” — a hotdog spirit that visits people in their dreams.
  6. Spatula of Might — Epic rock ballad about a band of heroes on a quest to find a hotdog.
  7. Respect the Casing — Hotdogs refusing to be dipped in batter and turned into corndogs.
  8. Grill Marks — High-energy EDM track.
  9. 8-Bit Hotdog — The synthwave entry, blending video games, hotdogs, and the best of an 80s/90s childhood.
  10. Tearin’ at the Seam — Female-vocals emo, Paramore-coded, about being a teenaged hotdog.
  11. The Scarlet Ribbon — A hotdog stretches all the way around the world, uniting everyone on it.
  12. Girth — Hardcore metal, screaming vocals, entirely about girth.
  13. Price Fixed in Stone — An ode to the Costco hotdog.
  14. Saint Oengus Whistle — Irish folk, a St. Patrick-and-the-snakes riff about a saint who drove all the hotdogs out of the land with his whistle.
  15. Kings of the Casing — Closing rap battle: Chicago dog vs. Seattle dog vs. New York dog, fighting it out for regional supremacy.

Why

Google released its generative audio tooling and I wanted to try it out. The plan was to poke at it for a few minutes. Instead I ended up writing hotdog-themed songs in every genre I could think of, one after another, until there was enough for a full album. No bigger ambition than that — it was just too fun to stop.