After seeing Dr. Dog perform "The Old Days" on Conan O'Brien, I got excited, because they have a new album coming out, which means I can review it! Dr. Dog captured my attention quickly for a number of reasons. First of all, all of the band members were wearing some hilarious old country clothing that somehow aesthetically aided the song they were playing. Second, I was really getting into their style, which is reminiscent of bands like Delta Spirit and The Rolling Stones in a weird way.
Dr. Dog's new album, entitled Fate, is a jingly, sunny, retro, bouncy collection of songs that wouldn't seem very out of place in the seventies, though they definitely won't be lost on the ears of today. Every song on the album has a unique sound to it, and none of the songs on Fate really sound alike. However, one tends to become accustomed to Dr. Dog's audio ideals early into the album, which may in some cases make the later songs feel less fresh than they should, relative to the rest of the album. Which is a really weird way of saying the first few songs are more impressive than the last few, but only because one feels like they understand the band by the end of the album.
The Breeze, the album's opening tune, is a truly catchy song and a fantastic way to start the album, led by a vocal-guitar duo, accentuated by old-school backing vocals, and led to a close by dueling wind instruments. The Old Days uses a staccato piano part with a slow drum beat to create animated verses, interspersed with rolling choruses and what sounds like a bluegrass hippie jam. Army of Ancients is a faux slow-dance song that grows more and more soulful, reminding one of R&B's origins. The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer is a piano-based pop piece that finds the band wondering "Should we pretend that it's the end?" The Ark is one of the few darker tracks on Fate, relying on drums and bass for most of the song, with periodic guitar licks peppering it now and then. The point is that Dr. Dog does a great job of varying genres song by song on this album.
Dr. Dog is a band with a lot of soul in their music, and a band that's easy to get hooked on. While Fate may feel a bit long sometimes (I don't think a song or two getting cut would've hurt the final product), multiple lead vocalists, a widespread musical reach, and a fondness for musical sensibilities of the past make it an easy listen that you'll want to hear a few times just to take it all in. While I think this album will appeal more to an adult-ish crowd than teens or kids, there's certainly something to Dr. Dog that anyone could enjoy.
5/7
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