Album Titles
Whether it’s a self-titled debut album, or the first release of new music in 5 years, an album’s name is the most pure way to get a peak inside a musician’s head.
Are they saying, “I’m Harry Styles and this is my sound”, or are they cluing you into the spark that ultimately drove them into the recording studio?
Critical Equation, the title of Dr. Dog’s latest album, gives listeners a pretty good idea of what the not your average indie pop band from Philly had in mind. The band’s tenth album encapsulates both their characteristic sound while branching out musically and technically. Recorded in Los Angeles by producer, Gus Seyffert, Dr. Dog seems to be straying from the process that accompanied their formerly self-produced material.
The result? An entire album recorded exclusively on 16-track analog tape, allowing for the music to have a very live quality to it. The tracks explore far corners of musical genres ranging from backroad blues with True Love to a dream realm on Buzzing In The Light.
Playing with sound is something Dr. Dog has mastered over the course of ten studio albums, and the clashing-yet-satisfying vocal harmonies are what we have come to look forward to.
Now the group has paired that with sprawling, over-extended melodies and pulled back groove. The quest for weird is something the band has embarked upon with every album, and have finally been able to turn out.
This is a band who still values how they sound playing together. With drum beats and guitar riffs that are only discovered on the fifth listen Dr. Dog utilizes every individual instrument to tell a detailed story alongside a musical chemistry hard to come by. Comparisons to Spoon, Wilco, and the like will abound as Critical Equation can be seen as experimental while still hitting the marks of a high selling indie band.
The record contains everything that the group stands for while taking major steps forward. First time listeners and fans alike can dive into nuanced sounds with the album on repeat as they wait to find out what Dr. Dog will do next.
