Dr. Dog Fate by: Justin Pearsall Thu:12-Jun-08 Label: Park The Van Year: 2008 WB rating 90 out of 100

There’s a lot of hyperbole when it comes to anticipated and important records. With every new band being ‘the next (insert favourite indie band here)’ and each follow-up album being the artist’s best to date, spin doctoring has certainly met its saturation point. So when the quote surrounding Dr. Dog’s fifth studio album promises “the album Dr. Dog were destined to make” there were reasons to be dubious. I mean, what in the band’s past has really suggested destiny? The term seems more rightfully reserved for classic albums, those that define an artist’s career and possibly even a generation of music.

Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Dog are no lightweights. Easy Beat and We All Belong were the sounds of great revivalist rock. Largely devoid of the sound-alike status that is the glass ceiling for so many ‘retro’ sounding bands, the Philadephia five-piece have an attitude and authenticity that most counterparts lack. Whether on the more measured studio output or their treasured rambunctious live performances, Dr. Dog are indelibly real; a hard working, well-versed group in increasingly plastic times. But none of this suggests that they could grow to be anything more than a great little band.

Described as an unconceived, accidental concept album, Fate thankfully lives up to its ambitious tagline. The instrumentation has broadened, the songs venturing into deeper, darker territory. First single ‘The Old Days’ reflects these traits and the record’s wider ability to steer ideas from the familiar to the unexpected. Led by a repetitive piano motif, Scott McMicken’s (one of the band’s songwriters and co-lead vocalist) track morphs from pop fodder to a chain-chanting freak out – with a jaunt to a saloon piano bar in the middle. It’s as if ‘The Old Days’ has musically redrafted some of McCartney’s more schizoid numbers (ala ‘Rocky Racoon’ and ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’) adding flesh and mania along the way.

As a band identified with the past, Beatles references are not new to the Dog. But where once such allusions broadly related to a hook-and-harmony approach and general aesthetic, Fate is more specific in its alignment to Abbey Road. Loosely delivered, yet tight and diverse, memorable melodies are plentiful but are offset by more exploratory songwriting. Toby Leaman’s (bass player and co-vocalist) ‘The Ark’ and ‘The Beach’ are the centrepieces of this deeper philosophy. Both eschew melody in favour of melodrama, Leaman’s nicotine-and-gravel voice building from initial restraint, ala Lennon. Musically, too, the band echo The Beatles’ ultimate effort, McMicken and Sukey Jumps (the band’s other guitarist) managing to capture not only the tone of the late 60s but the feel of those Harrison and Lennon solos.

In between these extremes Dr. Dog play to their former strengths with dense, catchy pop songs. ‘The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer’ exceeds its own enthusiasm with a wide instrumental palette, ‘Uncovering the Old’ reveals itself as a latter album favourite and the first half of the dual-layered ‘My Friend’ rollicks along as a revamped Dr. Dog of old. When interviewed during last year’s lawn bowling exhibition with WB, McMicken said that the new album’s main development would be in the band’s increased instrumental skill, something fuelled by their constant touring. And while this is certainly the case with instrumentation, harmonies and concepts greatly improved, the whole album’s achievements is far greater than the sum of its parts and any individual tracks.

While personally I’m not convinced that this is the apex of what Dr. Dog can achieve, with Fate they have ascended from a great little band to an important band with an essential album. Be this their Rubber Soul or their Sgt. Pepper, Fate is an album easily equitable to the best of 2008 and a must buy for their fans and music fans alike.