Dr. Dog is absolutely incapable of churning out garbage. Their trademark harmonies, the playful way they turn a phrase, how each song refuses to blend in with the indiscriminate herd of trying-really-hard-to-sound-like-vintage-folk-rock sheep that all bleat the same… The 12 tracks off their latest effort, Be the Void, attest to the group’s ability to be consistently distinctive and constantly awesome.
Things really start getting good with “That Old Black Hole.” Opening with funky, Marvin Gaye-esque bongos, the song’s tension builds to an explosive frenzy at the two-minute mark. “Do the Trick” is marked by bopping keyboards, bumping bass, and choir-like “aahs” in the background. These guys sure know the value of a good “aah.”
The rest of the album rocks along in a respectably ramshackle, Dr. Doggy fashion, with nods here and there to various influences like “Heavy Light” and its Vampire Weekend appeal, or the piano-guitar interplay and sha na nas of “Big Girl” with its early ’60s pop-meets-Rolling Stones feel, or the album’s relentlessly re-playable Electric Light Orchestra-reminiscent and overall finest moment, “Over Here, Over There.” Though Be the Void was released a little under two weeks ago (via Anti-), it’s the sort of high quality recording that makes you impatient for the next one. (Out now via Anti-)
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2012.