New Album from Three Weeks Ago: Be the Void by Dr. Dog

Singles might get all the attention and be nice and easy to digest, but an album is an event, a true-work of art. A well composed album gives context to each song; each track adds more meaning to the rest, transforming good songs into amazing songs. Almost all of the songs in The Wall by Pink Floyd would be considered crap if left on their lonesome, but together they form one of the greatest albums ever written. This is true as well for non-concept albums, the songs in Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion have nothing to do with each other, yet the way the tracks come together makes for one of the most enjoyable 55 minutes of music that I have ever experienced. Needless to say, I am a sucker for a good LP.

I love nothing more than discovering a new album; I listen to a new one every week. In doing so, I have sort of developed a process by which I dip into new albums. Every Tuesday I pick up a new album and give it a listen, usually not paying any attention to it while doing something else. I repeat this once or twice more as the week goes on as I let it seep in. This allows the album to seep into my subconscious, I don’t really know the individual tracks, but I get a feel for the general sound. Then the next Monday, during my weekly train ride back and forth from home, I give it a real listen. I pay close attention and cherish every line, chord, and note. I enjoy how the songs that have entered the back of my mind flow together, mixing together to form the album. After this point, I usually become obsessed. I listen to the album almost non-stop throughout the next week, sometimes several times in a day (I once listened to Man Man’s Six Demon Bag three times in a row). I stop listening to the album usually the next Monday, when a new album infects my brain. After-words, I let the album rest for a week, letting the hysteria die down as I gain a bit of perspective. It is then, three weeks after I bought the album, that I finally feel like I know the album well enough to write an article on it. And with that, “New Album from Three Weeks Ago” was born. (Just a quick note, new album means new to me, not necessarily a new release).

Three weeks ago I picked up Dr. Dog’s new album Be the Void. Already a huge Dr. Dog fan, I was really excited to give it a listen. And like the rest of their work, it did not disappoint. The upbeat indy folk jams on the album are exactly what I expected of Dr. Dog. That being said, they are exactly what I expected from them. The album is a good Dr. Dog album, great for fans, yet not truly fantastic.

Steve put it perfectly without even listening to the album, “I feel like Dr. Dog is a band where if you love them, you will love every single song they make, but if you don’t you’re not going to enjoy them”. The band puts out consistent quality work, but doesn’t appear to evolve. It is this distinction that makes Dr. Dog a good band, yet prevents them from being a truly fantastic one. What would the Beatles be if they never branched out from their early mop-top sound? Seeing as Dr. Dog’s albums are relatively similar, it makes the most sense to listen to their best album if you have never listened to them. So to those who have never heard of them I highly recommend checking out Fate, it is an absolutely fantastic album.

Back to the album at hand. The A side is a filled with track after track of classic Dr. Dog tunes, with That Old Black Hole and Lonesome being of particular note. These two are among my favorites from their entire collection. My friends are constantly harassed by my love of Lonesome; “What does it take to be lonesome?” I frequently ask them, hoping for the appropriate response “nothing at all.”

Yet somewhere around the start of the B side the albums teeters off. The songs become much more forgettable. I gave the album another listen today, paying close attention to every note in the first half, but by the time the B-side came around I lost interest (except for Warrior Man which is fantastic). I usually classify albums into two types, listening albums and ambient albums. Listening albums demand the listener’s attention whereas ambient albums are perfect for doing work or getting lost in thought too. I do not believe that either type is better than the other, just different. Yet it is typically a bad sign when an album switches type midcourse; and Be the Void does just that.

To sum it up Be the Void is a good album, but certainly not Dr. Dog’s best. It is definitely worth picking up if you like Dr. Dog or indy folk. If your new to either, pick up Fate and see what you think; it is a premier example of both.