Rating: NNN
Dr. Dog have skipped heavy multi-tracking in favour of a live-off-the-floor sound on their seventh album, B-Room (named after the new studio the band built in an old silversmith’s mill near West Philadelphia).
The warm, soulful vibe works on opener The Truth, propelled by vintage guitar and synth sounds and Eric Slick’s unhurried drumming. It’s equally effective on celebratory, Velvet Underground-influenced Distant Light, with lush and loose group backup vocals. (Rock & Roll, a song about first getting hooked on music, is likely another Velvets nod.)
But sometimes – Long Way Down, for instance – the band verges on messy. You get the sense you’ve stumbled on an unrehearsed party in the band’s jam space.
Borrowing from psychedelia, Dr. Dog also touch on everything from folk and country to hip-hop-inspired beats, and Twilight could be a Kinks outtake.
Top track: Distant Light
Dr. Dog play the Opera House Friday (November 8).
