Dr. Dog - Self Titled
It appears that 2024 is the year of music. Releases, tours, and projects have been nothing but prominent within the music industry over the last seven months, even in the dead of winter throughout January and February. All of my favorite artists are either touring hardcore (but conveniently not coming to my city), teasing new music, dropping said music, or becoming suspiciously active on socials like Instagram, Tiktok, X (formerly Twitter), and those alike. Even one of my favorite bands, Dr. Dog, which has been on a hiatus for a decent chunk of time, has put out their 13th studio album that, funnily enough, is a self-titled record.
Dr. Dog follows two live albums and their latest studio album Critical Equation from 2018 however their most commendable works reside in older records such as Abandoned Mansion from 2017, B-Room from 2013, and of course, Shame, Shame from 2010 that features their hit song Where’d All the Time Go? The group was first formed in West Grove, Pennsylvania and their debut record Toothbrush was released in January of 2003, making them officially older than me (20, for the record). The band’s lineup has remained consistent over the years with lead guitarist/vocalist Scott Mcmicken, bassist Toby Leaman, drummer Eric Slick, rhythm guitarist Frank McElroy, keyboardist Zach Miller, and multi-instrumentalist Michael Libramento. With Mcmicken and Leaman being some of my largest writing inspirations, I knew I had to take a look at this new album for both my sake and yours.
Dr. Dog is an 11 track-long compilation of fun, light heartedness, and most importantly: love. There’s Authority; the fun and child-like birth of the album. Then there’s Fat Dog, a drum-heavy piece that name drops Where’d All The Time Go, and of course you can’t forget about the angelic dedication to B-Room that is Fine White Lies. It’s all an amalgamation of intense yet playful work that I struggled to break down in a way that’s appropriate for a review since I wanted to dive into every song. With time and hard decisions, I managed to narrow things in and I first landed on the second track: Lost Ones.
The driving instrument within Lost Ones is the piano and it opens the song up in a melancholic approach that evolves into a powerful ballad - cinematic on its own accord. It’s the type of piece that wouldn’t be out of place in the closing scene of a rom com starring Glen Powell; it possesses that same intoxicating spunk those types of movies hold. Mcmicken’s vocals also further push the song’s ambience towards a fervent notion because of how impassioned they appear to be and it’s all wrapped up by a glorious guitar solo, again from Mcmicken, piercing through the otherwise whimsical image the song gives out.
Moving down the tracklist, I had to make mention of Dr. Dog’s fifth track: What a Night’ll Do. The halfway mark of the record, What a Night’ll Do is almost classical with how proper and highbrow it sounds courtesy of Zach Miller and Michael Libramento’s contributions. This song deals with the idea of falling out of love with someone and the hardships that come right alongside it. McMicken sings “Well I’ve lost that feeling that I felt from before with you. Well let's see what a night will do. Too afraid to tell you that our time is through so let's see what a night will do. If only one more moment was all we had to share well, maybe we’d remember all the love that isn't there” in the opening verse, painting a picture of lost love and an aspect of relationships most don’t shed light on: the end. I could almost envision the breakup: a mutual one but still difficult all the same. Running mascara, awkward glances, candlelight, and tension too thick to cut with a knife. What a Night’ll Do is devastating to listen to but you can’t just avoid it: much like the real-life tendencies it entails.
Tell Your Friends sits on the heels of What a Night’ll Do, but it is a large switch up both in tone and message. In ultimate contrast, Tell Your Friends holds a hopeful lilt to it and it focuses on self reflection. There are elements that hint towards the passage of time and its heaviness, emphasizing the power of telling your friends that you love and care for them. “Now that I'm old and wiser, it's a shame to see the past. Holding a blurry imagе of the years that slipped through thе cracks. Some of them made me happy, some of them made me sad. All of the things that felt right didn't happen overnight. Tell all your friends you love them, you don't see them every day.” shuts the song in a very nostalgic timbre, continuing the record onward.
With a few more songs down the line, listeners are brought to tracks 10 and 11: Handyman and Love Struck. Handyman is transcendent and almost disorienting (purposefully, of course) from a sound standpoint and that collides with the song’s slow and twangy approach to things. From my perspective, Handyman is an analogy for that person in life that makes things right; the one we love that seems to fix anything just with their sheer presence or word of advice. I am not sure if McMicken or Leaman have wives let alone a significant other but irregardless, they can really fucking write love songs. Comparing an unknown woman to this symbolic handyman, McMicken sings “If you can’t help yourself, I know someone who can. Call on her, she's the handyman. She walks through these corridors, toolbox in hand. She’s got the keys to the kingdom. They forgot about her a long time ago, but this place would be a wreck without her handyman”, an ode to someone who hopefully gets the same love back.
Love Struck winds Dr. Dog to a glorious end as its eleventh number and boy, what an end. Initially released as a single earlier this year, Love Struck features singer/songwriter M. Ward alongside the respective members of Dr. Dog. It is a leisurely rejoice that radiates a warm and united energy; listeners can almost feel themselves being transported to the studio with Ward, McMicken, Leaman, Slick, McElroy, Miller, and Libramento due to how homey it feels. It exudes this recurring theme of love in its full figure, the lyrics ringing with disbelief that the narrator is actually lucky enough to be so in love with their partner. “Wеll, I could never turn my back on you. No, I could never tell you lies. Split decisions and I never knew. You've got me making up my mind. You've got me making up my mind and I can't believe that you came to me in the great big sea where the lightning strikes and I can't get over how we met on another plane in a silhouette.”
After the release of this self-titled album, Dr. Dog has a set this September at Chicago’s annual Riot Festival. Many fans, myself included, are hoping for an official tour that coincides with the new album to be released since it has been quite some time since they launched a full headlining tour to promote their music (PLEASE come to Grand Rapids, Michigan). Some folks online speculate that this album, hence its significance of being a self-titled record, could be a sign of change for Dr. Dog as we know it. Whether that means retirement, a lineup change, or a shift in style, I am not sure but I am sure about my opinions on this warming album and I urge every reader to give it a listen -
Dr. Dog, the album, is available anywhere you currently find music.
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