Dr Dog - Easybeat

Sat 1st Oct, 2005 in Music Reviews

Have you ever wondered what sound would eventuate from the musical fusion of Supertramp and Neil Young with a smattering of David Bowie and a heavy Beatles influence? Not particularly?  Neither have I but the hirsute West Philadelphian five-piece currently playing under the moniker Dr Dog, (they have been known to adopt Taxi, Table, Text, Time and Trial as aliases) have accomplished all of the above and more with their third release but first longplayer, Easybeat. Confused? Don’t be. With their lo-fi/folk/rock/country hybrid they have prescribed exactly what this here wearied musical soul is desperately in need of.

It sees a rather desultory undertaking to introduce an album which is steeped in psychedelic folk rock amidst a current musical climate of hard, derivative, revivalist rock. However, after listening to Easybeat you get the feeling that worldwide chart domination wasn’t the band’s intention when they recorded the album.  Both this and their previous release Psychedelic Swamp were recorded within the confines of a flooded basement using an inferior two decade old recording system.  The accompanying disc jackets for said albums were photocopied at the band’s local Kinkos.  Music can’t get more DIY than that and this understated, lackadaisical approach to the way the album was made has also seeped into its resulting sound.

As a result there is a raw, shambolic feel to this album which adds to, rather than detracts from, its allure. It’s an album unashamedly and firmly rooted in sixties rock and it imparts a somewhat nostalgic and soothing feeling to the first time listener. It evokes a time when house doors were left unlocked, when Mr Whippy vans were a regular fixture on streets and the neighbour’s sprinkler system provided hours of afternoon entertainment. It’s in part due to the substandard recording equipment but it is also due to the warm guitar tones, simple song structures and melodic Brian Wilson like harmonies. The resulting sound is more reminiscent of a group of friends jamming in someone’s living room, or basement as in this case, rather than a polished album release.

The listener is instantly enthralled by the Beatles tinged opener The World May Never Know which transfixes us with its funky bass line, sweet, melodic harmonies and mellow folk overtones. It sounds like the sort of music the Beatles could be making if Lennon wasn’t shot and McCartney didn’t unleash Wings and wife Linda onto the unsuspecting world.

The Pretender features a heart fracturing, fervent vocal and a guitar riff lifted straight from the music charts via 1969.  “I only want you to be happier”, frontman/bassist Toby Leaman wails amidst the jangly guitar and a band member’s input which sounds like a yapping dog. Oh No and Fools Life with their respective distorted and fuzzy guitars are unassuming beat laden pop songs which instantly get the feet tapping.

The listless acoustic guitar of the fantastic The Dutchman Falls provides the much needed shade on the album with a strained and soaring vocal that laments,”nobody cares, nobody cares but me’.  This also carries into Say Something which adroitly combines the warm guitar tones with the longing vocals that urge the subject to “say something, say something, say something’.

At times the musicianship is awkward by way of a missed chord or two (as someone who is adept at playing bass quite badly, I am an authority) but it lends itself quite well to the unrefined yet relaxed feel of the album.

There is an element of Bowie to Today which despite the heavy, resonant bass is quite melodic. The title track Easybeat continues the quasi roots/folk/country theme, replete with jangly bells, and does it quite well but it is the closer Wake Up which has become a critical focal point for such a small and previously unknown band.

There have been many critics who have dismissed the band for having too much of a distinct Beatles sound and it’s not until Wake Up with its Hey Jude style la la la-ing that you make the connection.  The musical conundrum this presents is that in a climate where The Beatles have influenced every major act we’ve witnessed soar up the charts, if you dismiss those who have let this influence resonate into their music you wipe out a large number of great indie bands. Every artist and his dog name checks the band as an influence and whilst it comes through in Dr Dog they are by no means a revivalist one trick pony.

Despite the dodgy audio, the asides which at one point sound like a dog yelping in the background and the album’s brevity, which comes in at just under 38 minutes, this one’s a keeper.

There’s no pretension with these guys and at times it seems like there’s no intention either. This is music at its best. It’s music made by a band just for themselves and simply for the fun of it and we’re lucky they’ve let us along for the ride.  What else would you expect from a band that was deserted by one of their original members in order to appear in the US version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

For the moment, life is sweet, the music is even sweeter and the ever elusive millions could never top that, as one poor fool will soon painfully realise.