Earlier today, Merge Records announced that they had signed hot shit local act A Giant Dog, bringing the Austin quintet into the same pantheon of indie rock royalty as Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel and AGD’s BFFs Spoon. We are of course very excited by this announcement, especially since it comes with the added bonus of a confirmation that the band’s next album will be hitting shelves in early 2016, according to Merge. For fans of all things Sabrina Ellis, this is shaping up to be a pretty great fourth quarter, with her other project Sweet Spirit releasing their debut album Cokomo on Friday. Sweet Spirit are currently housed on local label Nine Mile Records but given how close Ellis and company continue to get with the Merge crew, perhaps Sweet Spirit will be joining A Giant Dog on the roster before too long. In the meantime, congrats to A Giant Dog! And here’s our favorite video of theirs to celebrate with: