Search - Dr. Dog :: Takers & Leavers

Strong Release, Strong Band

Jason | USA | 12/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When describing the sound of Dr. Dog, names like the Beatles and the Beach Boys tend to get thrown around. While these influences are evident, such descriptions don't really do this band justice. I know what you're thinking. How could comparisons to the greats not do a band justice? Well, you'll just have to take my word for it. It doesn't work. I could toss around all kinds of other names like My Morning Jacket and Of Montreal, or pigeonholing adjectives like Blues-Rock, Indie-Pop and so on. The magic of Dr. Dog is that they manage to sound like all of these things while not actually sounding like any of these things. Sure, the vocal harmonies may allude to "Pet Sounds" and the quasi-psychedelic blues rock may bring to mind Abbey Road, but the whole is synergetic; greater than the sum of it's parts.



The only thing keeping me from awarding five stars is the production. It doesn't really capture the manic energy of their live performances. Yes, this is truely a progression from their earlier releases, but it could benefit from an injection of their live energy."