Release Date: February 7, 2012
Dr. Dog is a Pennsylvania-based band that’s been quietly chugging out albums since 1999, and although it’s never really reached massive success, it’s established a dedicated cult following through a clever mixture of indie and psychedelic rock. On Feb. 7, Dr. Dog dropped its newest album, Be the Void, and while it still might not take them to the big time, it’s a fun album and one that fans of the band will surely appreciate.
Dr. Dog is not a difficult band to enjoy. Most songs have a good number of elegantly simple vocal harmonies and clean, bouncy basslines. Everything else sounds like a standard psych-rock band, just made a little bit noisy. Pianos sometimes hit the wrong pitch, guitars are a little bit fuzzy, and percussion is hazy, using a lot of shakers instead of entirely relying on a concrete drum kit. Despite all this rough backing instrumentation, a lot of focus is placed on the very clean-cut vocals that power each song, which keeps the band on track nicely and makes the music very accessible.
A lot of times, pushing the band to the back makes for an unsatisfying experience, but this focus on vocals and lyricism pays off for Dr. Dog because Be the Void does a very good job establishing an overarching vibe or theme: despite the usually upbeat music, the lyrics are tinged with guilt, a drifting sort of melancholia, a pastoral longing for the past and a desire to escape loneliness.
This is evident straight from the aptly named intro, “Loneliness,” a western-influenced barn stomp of a song that climaxes with a heartbreaking chorus: “What does it take to be lonesome?/Nothing at all.” This sentiment is followed immediately by “That Old Black Hole,” a very poppy and fun song whose lyrics explore futility, nihilism and fate. But it isn’t just the first two songs: this sadness continues throughout the entire album and is even reflected in the album’s title, the void presumably being a sort of emotional emptiness or escape from feeling.
Every song fits nicely into this theme and makes the album into a very complete artistic statement, but that doesn’t mean that every song is a winner. A few tracks such as “Do the Trick” and “Heavy Light” are sort of forgettable. They aren’t necessarily bad songs; they just don’t pop out or surprise the listeners the way that other songs do.
Luckily, these few bland tracks are still heavily outweighed by classics such as the aforementioned “Loneliness” and “That Old Black Hole,” the scratchy hook-driven “These Days” or the lurching, tempo-twisting “Vampire.” Special kudos goes to “Warrior Man,” which distinguishes itself by being a little more spacey and psychedelic than the rest of the album, with slightly more watery vocals and a very subtle but very cool retro synthesizer riff. While not every song is a winner, the vast majority of tracks are, and the album is still a very enjoyable experience from start to finish.
Be the Void is Dr. Dog’s seventh full-length album, but hopefully, it isn’t their last. Despite a few small missteps here and there, the band has created an album that is accessible and fun, an interesting blend of lo-fi with psychedelic that is both innovative and immediately familiar.
Dr. Dog – Be the Void tracklist:
- “Lonesome”
- “That Old Black Hole”
- “These Days”
- “How Long Must I Wait”
- “Get Away”
- “Do the Trick”
- “Vampire”
- “Heavy Light”
- “Big Girl”
- “Over Here, Over There”
- “Warrior Man”
- “Turning the Century”
