“I’m too old to die young, but I can’t even remember being young” sings Sabrina Ellis on “Sex & Drugs,” a hooky bit on existentialism in rock & roll. It’s cleverly written—a piano-driven piece with a wailing chorus, bass overdrive, maybe a little bit too clever, in fact, but that’s just what A Giant Dog is: naughty and raucous and playful and smart. (Think of them as your friends who drew penises on your face when you passed out drunk.)

It may be a natural consequence of growing up together; Ellis, Andrew Cashen (vocals, guitar), ­and Orville Neeley (drums) formed Youth In Asia as high schoolers in Houston, TX. Years later, in Austin, they regrouped with Andy Bauer (guitar) and Graham Low (bass) to call themselves A Giant Dog.

Live, A Giant Dog has developed into a formidable force (Ellis has been described as “Iggy Pop channeling Tina Turner”), a fact that did not go unnoticed by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, who took the band on tour with Spoon.

On Pile, their third album, A Giant Dog levels up on record, too: they’re tighter, more focused. It’s still clever and naughty; just add a polished fear of aging in the mix as well. Cashen talks to Myspace in tongues about pretzels and their lives in music.

Hometown: My mother’s womb (Houston)

Homebase: Outside of my mothers womb (Austin)

What made you all want to form A Giant Dog?

We all met in a co-ed jail for gifted youth. They fed us pretzels, we had a mutual dislike for pretzels. We started writing songs about our mutual dislike for pretzels. Nabisco asked us if we wanted to quit our jobs and continue pumping out the pretzel jams but we declined and formed A Giant Dog instead.

How did you discover that you wanted to play music?

I personally discovered music through the motion picture Face-Off staring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta.

Who (or what) are your biggest songwriting influences?

I think the pretzel thing still has a big influence but others include Andy Kaufman, Whitney Houston, Mark Ronson, Tiny Tim, Randy Newman, Air Bud, Cancer, Body Hair, The Internet, you know … stuff.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

Usually we are both standing in a very loud room and I pretend I'm saying words and hope they don't care too much about what I'm saying and just nod to be polite. Then I pretend to casually vomit in my mouth and they give me that look of "you should probably take care of that", then I typically wink back at them and take care of the fake vom sitch.

Why are you called A Giant Dog?

All of us were tripping on psychedelics in the desert. We asked each other, if your aura was in the form of an animal what animal would it be? Simultaneously we all shouted at the top of our lungs "A GIANT DOG." Then we took the sacramental butchers knife, cut our hands open and became blood sisters. When it was time to come up with a band name I was like, "Remember that time we gave each other hepatitis in the desert?"

Does living in Austin influence your music?

Probably. Austin is an alcoholics paradise. There is something to do every night of the week. I've seen this city burn through people in 6 months. They just can't handle it. I think that lifestyle comes across in our music and live shows. I feel proud to represent Austin when we get out on the road. I never start a set without telling people where we from. Boston is awesome.

What was collaborating and touring with Britt Daniel/Spoon like?

Honestly Britt has been amazing to us. He has been extremely supportive, encouraging, just an all around pleasant human being. And we are assholes who get our friends to photoshop Britt's head onto Bret Michaels body so we can have a picture of Britt Michaels. Britt Michaels.

What do you do for fun?

Try on other people’s lipstick. darkness.

What's your craziest concert story so far?

This one time we all ate dinner at our respective houses before we played a show. Around 9:30 each of us drove separately to the venue. When we got there this CRAZY dude behind the bar asked how many people are in the band. I just fucking held my hand up with all five digits pointing towards the heavens. He nodded and went behind the register and whipped out 10 goddamn drink tickets. I turned to my band mate and shouted "THATS TWO A PIECE"!!!! and then he stabbed someone.

Why is your album called Pile?

House, Fight, Bone, Pile, Toy. You know alliteration. What does it mean? He stabbed someone.

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#reverseBenjaminButton or #heej

Do you have an awesome Myspace-related story as a musician?

I used to pretend me and Tom from Myspace were really good friends. I would make up stories about how we would go on vacations, and go bowling, and suck on packets of ranch dressing together. I didn't realize that everybody was friends with Tom.

What's the best part of your live show?

Imagining everyone in the audience naked.