CD of The Week

Dr. Dog - Dr. Dog (We Buy Gold)

Dr. Dog have been a shining light of the Philadelphia indie music scene for close to two decades, with an expansive catalog and a signature sound of shaggy songs and glorious harmonies. They’ve truly done it all so in 2021, the band announced they would no longer be a full-time touring unit. They didn’t break up, they didn’t swear off playing live, but the group was giving up the album-tour cycle treadmill. Co-frontmen Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman both focused on their solo endeavors for a few years but the old friends eventually reconvened to make more music as Dr. Dog once again.

This brings us to their new, self-titled record, the 11th Dr. Dog studio album and their first since 2018. The band members went off to a cabin in the woods to reconnect, and write and record these 11 new tunes. Dr. Dog opens with “Authority,” a classic upbeat McMicken tune bolstered by a horn section, followed by Leaman’s loose, ambling “Lost Ones.” Lead single “Talk is Cheap” is instantly recognizable as Dr. Dog, with its plinking piano, boosted by a group of female backing singers aiding on harmonies.

The affable jam “Fat Dog” has nothing to do with the current UK buzz band of the same name but it’s amusing to get a “dog” song from this particular group. “What a Night’ll Do” is a swooning ballad, in fact, it’s almost an old-fashioned torch song,

“Tell Your Friends” is an outlier here, sung by drummer Eric Slick (who just put out his own excellent solo album New Age Rage a few months back). It’s a gentle, warm song that namechecks Philadelphia’s Silk City Diner and imparts the timely wisdom to “Tell all your friends you love them, you don't see them every day.”

A good bit of Dr. Dog floats by without leaving an impact, but it’s such a familiar, friendly sound from these ole pals, you don’t mind. The album wraps up with the twangy “Love Struck,” featuring a contribution from M. Ward.

A few years apart wasn’t going to radically change or reinvent the Dr. Dog dudes. They’re still giving us the sound that’s connected them to numerous fans locally and around the globe and will hopefully continue to for years to come, at their own pace.
Review by Joey O.