Dr. Dog: Be The Void
Having only been released yesterday, Dr. Dog’s latest album Be The Void has already offered a lot to discuss. In that sense, I’ll try to fit most of my thoughts into this blog post, though I’m sure I won’t get to all of them. I would be remiss though if I failed to mention the great amount of Beatles-interplay that happens throughout record, arguably more so than their usual stylistic appropriation. Be the Void marks a serious change in the band’s sound, perhaps because of the addition of drummer Eric Slick and percussionist Dimitri Manos, or possibly because of their decision to produce it themselves, unlike the previous album Shame, Shame. But for whatever reason it may be, they mark this change with an opening count-off in the first song, “Lonesome”, recalling the way that the Beatles opened up their own revolutionary album, Revolver, which leads the listener into a fantastic aural journey for the next 45 minutes.
This new sound is a combination of many key aspects. There is a return to the raw, grittiness of the pre-Shame, Shame days, but with a new intensity and purpose. The song “These Days” is a perfect example, blasting from the start with a biting, crunchy lead guitar riff that is not as polished as it would have been in Shame, Shame, but attacks with more power than it would have in an album like Fate.
Besides the addition of their percussionist (who also adds electronic elements), there is a scaling back of the complex layering that happened in Shame, Shame. They seem to have for the most part taken their ideas, stripped them down, and placed them onto their core instruments: guitar, bass, piano, drums, and percussion. It is almost as if they were preparing for a live setting, rather than recording a complex studio album. In this way, they achieve the exact opposite effect that the Beatles did in Revolver, while at the same time heavily echoing that record. The last track, “Turning the Century”, contains a sitar riff that seems to almost satirize the Beatles’ Indian-inspired songs, and continues on with an acoustic guitar riff that is its own Beatles’ tribute.
But although there are all these changes, the album is without a doubt a Dr. Dog album at its core. It has the same unbelievable harmonies, the same catchy melodies, and the same impressive recording elegance that existed in all their previous albums. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it on my first listen, considering it took me a little while to warm up to Shame, Shame. I would recommend this album to anyone who has liked their music in the past, or to anyone who is a fan of rock’n’roll in general. And one more thing, don’t just download the album. Buy it. Support the music that you love- and enjoy!
- Isaac Silber, Mood of the Week (Sundays from 3-4pm @ WQHS.org)
