Fate
Dr. Dog
Score:88
Reviewer: Justin Pearsall
Label: Park the Van (USA & UK), Dew Process (Australia)
Reviewed: Jun 11th '08, Released:2008
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?
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 rambunctious live performances, Dr. Dog are indelibly real; a hard working, well-versed group who seem to genuinely love what they’re doing. 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 delivers on its ambitious tagline. The instrumentation has broadened, the songs venturing into deeper, darker territory. First single ‘The Old Days’ reflects these traits and the wider ability to steer ideas from the familiar to the unexpected. 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 broadly 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.
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.
Whether or not 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 a must-have album.
