Dr. Dog

One Liner:  Very enjoyably shaggy indie rock

Wikipedia Genre:  Indie rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, indie folk, Americana, neo-psychedelia, lo-fi (earlier years)

Home: Philly

Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 5
Both Weekends.
Friday.

Thoughts:  I could have sworn they had been here before.  If so, it was before I started this insane person's mission of writing all of this stuff up.  Looks like a I reviewed a few individual albums, but never did a full deep dive.  They are completely worthy though, this stuff is great!

2003's Toothbrush is their first album available on Spotify, and it is a sloppy homemade mess.  Some enjoyable bluesy rock, but it literally sounds like they made it in a janitor's closet with a tape recorder.  I think the drum kit was in another closet nearby.  A hard listen just because it truly sounds like butt.  Unsurprisingly, a low stream count.

The band formed up in Philadelphia in 1999, although their true origin goes back to the two lead singers - Toby Leaman (bass), Scott McMicken (lead guitar) - making music together in eighth grade.  Wikipedia claims that they never played covers and only wrote original stuff, which is kind of wild.  They ended up at West Chester University, in West Chester, PA, and formed a band called Raccoon.  They added a handful of other dudes and became Dr. Dog.  They recorded their first album - The Psychedelic Swamp - in 2001 on an eight track.  Doesn't appear that made it to Spotify.  They won a dedicated local fanbase in Philly for a few years, but then got invited by My Morning Jacket to come on tour in 2004.  That opened the door to a much bigger audience.

2005's Easy Beat was their next album, and while it is still pretty lo-fi, it sounds leagues better than that first disc.  Still a ton of good harmonies and fuzzy guitar.  Two tracks on there with more than a million streams, starting with album opener "The World May Never Know"  2.3 million streams.

That bass and piano at the start makes me think of White Album-era Beatles.  Maybe that is "Rocky Raccoon" I am thinking of?  Anyway, this definitely sounds more like what I think of when I think of this band.  I was really hoping this song would be about licking to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop.  The whole disc has a really chill groove to it that I dig.

Passed Away, Vol. 1, from 2008, feels like they went backwards to the sounds of that first disc.  I don't love it, and the stream counts show that others agree.  I wonder if it was like a re-issue or collection of b-sides.

With 2008's Fate, they finally hit a nerve.  The opening track on that album is their fourth biggest streamer still today.  "The Breeze" has 48.5 million streams.

Got those Beach Boys harmonics jamming in there before the break.  Good disc overall.

2010's Shame, Shame saw them on a new album, and they definitely have a cleaner, smoother sound.  Almost like a Vampire Weekend vibe with more synths and electric guitar.  Maybe some Spoon in here too.  That album is probably their best one - when I go back to it, I really enjoy it a lot.  "Shadow People" is a hit with 17.9 million streams, but their biggest track lives on this disc as well, so here is "Where'd All the Time Go," with 504.3 million streams.

Comes on like a Flaming Lips joint.  Terribly sad song, underneath all of those lovely harmonies and jangly guitar, about that old bitch Time just speeding along while we hold on tight.  Great tune.

2012's Be The Void looks to have been pretty well ignored on Spotify.  It is fine, not as good as Shame, Shame, but better than the early stuff for sure.  B-Room was next, in 2013, and it went back to a little bit of that raw sound they had back in the day.  Still some good tracks, but some of definitely feels DIY again.  Lots of Beach Boys feel because of the great harmonies.  "Nellie" is one of their other big hits, and is on this album.  84.2 million streams.

Like a Lumineers stomp/clap jam right there.  Apparently a song about a father's love as he watched his baby girl sleep in her room.  Either way, it is a good tune.

Their next disc, 2015's Live at a Flamingo Hotel, was an all-live disc from the B-Room tours.  While the title is odd (which one?), this album is great fun.  This album catches a band sounding like they are having a great time doing their thing.  Touch of the Allmans on "Worst Trip," some Avett sounding action on "Jackie Wants a Black Eye" (which I liked a lot - great tune), and some country-fied shamble on "Shame, Shame."  I also dig "Shadow People," big fat harmonies and a sprawling tune that goes from a frenzy into a soft comedown.  I think this is cool stuff and shows some of how fun their live show is going to be.  For whatever reason, all but one of the songs on here have under a million listens, but one ("Heart it Races") has over 12 million.  Must have been featured in a playlist or something...

Strangely, they re-released The Psychedelic Swamp as a 2016 album (or at least that is what Spotify shows).  Oh, I read about it, and they "revisited" the album and just recreated it.  That is actually pretty cool, for them to treat their own, original, old-school tunes like they are covers that they recreate.

2017's Abandoned Mansion - Nothing shocking here, this album is yet another lovable, shaggy collection from these guys.  The tunes meander through an old school Neil Young meets Dead vibe, complete with harmonica flourishes and frequent organ, a jammy complement to years of chilled folky rock.  This one feels like it tracks with both Fate and Shame, Shame from their back catalog, and this one treads the exact same ground in a pleasing shamble.  The title track is the track with the most listens, with 17.8 million spins.

Those ghostly organs nail that sound.  But, pretty nice tune.  That is this whole album, a nice sleepwalk through some chilled-out rock.  "you did it to yourself, but you did it to me too."

2018's Critical Equation - they just keep churning out annual albums.  Lots of action here.  Another good disc, this one is maybe a little cleaner, kind of a Wilco vibe for me.  The one that made me look up and laugh though is called "Heart Killer," because I could have sworn he was singing "Hawk Tuah! Hawk Tuah!" for the chorus.  Not so much.  2020's We All Belong is another nice disc.  I really feel like, other than that initial disc, these guys just really don't do much that is wrong.  This one pushes a Beatles-ey flavor for sure - the title track absolutely feels like it could have been a Sgt. Peppers b-side.

In 2021, they announced that they would no longer tour - they were not disbanding, but just done with the road.  Each member of the band was looking to do some solo action, but they planned to keep recording tunes.  And in fact, after two live projects, they released 2024's Dr. Dog.  Those songs haven't grabbed much traction in the year since their release, but I know I have heard "Authority" on the local radio around here.  I think I thought it was Wilco.  "Talk is Cheap" is the top streamer as of now, with 1.6 million streams.  I've heard this one before as well.

Love the background singers on the chorus.  Just another good groove. and I love the massive build up before the little guitar solo starts squawking around.  "Tell Your Friends" almost edges into Fleet Foxes territory.

I'm all in.  I am going to keep listening to this stuff, and for sure want to see the show.