Dog Unit

Dog Unit play Sneaky Pete's on Thursday 11 March, a London instrumental quartet bringing their post-rock and electronica to the Cowgate. They're the only act on the bill, and the show is presented by Sneaks Events.

If you're not familiar, Dog Unit work without a singer. Their sound is reverb-drenched post-rock that draws as much on the tune-first, purist pop of Burt Bacharach or The Strokes as on the groove and ambiance of post-rock forebears like Tortoise or Stereolab. It's that combination of pop sensibility and instrumental texture that puts them in a particular bracket: they're not just about atmosphere, but about the songs themselves.

They've been championed by Steve Lamacq on 6Music and John Kennedy on Radio X, and they're coming off their second album, Runners. That record was tracked over the first four months of 2026 at their Limehouse studio in East London with producer Mark Estall, a string quartet and experimental bass clarinetist Heather Roche. Critics called the result propulsive and mesmerising, and noted it makes you wish more bands explored music without vocals. You'll hear that record's influence in the set, alongside the instrumental approach they've built their name on.

Doors open at 19:00 at Sneaky Pete's, 73 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JW. Tickets are £14.80, and it's a 14+ event in a 100-capacity room.