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PO: Dr. Dog - Critical Equation OUT 4/27


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New Dr. Dog album Critical Equation comes out on 4/27.

Already up for sale on Amazon for $19.98. The band/label pre-order goes up on Friday.

 

First single is 'Listening In'.

Promo blurb:

Quote

'I feel like I'm in a totally new band right now,' says Dr. Dog guitarist/singer Scott McMicken. It's a bold declaration considering he's been co-fronting the beloved indie outfit for a decade-and-a-half, but it cuts straight to the heart of the intense and transformative experience behind the group's brilliant new album, 'Critical Equation.' Produced by Gus Seyffert (Bedouine, Michael Kiwanuka), 'Critical Equation' is the most infections and adventurous collection Dr. Dog has laid to tape yet. The record was born from a journey of doubt and discovery, a heavy, sometimes painful reckoning that ultimately brought the band closer together with more strength and clarity than ever before. Call it an existential awakening, call it a dark night of the soul, whatever it was, it fueled one of the most fertile creative periods in the group's history.

I really dig the single and hope they dig in a little more deeper than they did for their last 3-4 albums. A moodier, more thoughtful Dr. Dog might be just what I needed.

Edited by swb
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I'm a huge Dr. Dog fan, especially the stuff that Scott McMicken leads, so I did enjoy Psychedelic Swamp and Abandoned Mansion but they both felt like side project albums rather than a proper studio album of new Dr. Dog songs. Swamp was born from that live theater show they worked on (and revamping early demos) and you could sense it was an experiment outside of their proper discography and Mansion, from what I've read, purposefully tried to avoid over-refinement and keep things loose, which is interesting, but the songs ended up feeling like first drafts of songs that would eventually get scrapped or cut from a straight ahead Dr. Dog album, IMO. I really like the McMicken songs on there though, as some of them feel like tracks that you'd hear on one of his low run solo records on PIAPTK Records. Long story short, I like their last few albums too but I'm hoping for something meatier like anything they did up through Shame Shame and the 70% of Be the Void that I love.

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13 hours ago, swb said:

I'm a huge Dr. Dog fan, especially the stuff that Scott McMicken leads, so I did enjoy Psychedelic Swamp and Abandoned Mansion but they both felt like side project albums rather than a proper studio album of new Dr. Dog songs. Swamp was born from that live theater show they worked on (and revamping early demos) and you could sense it was an experiment outside of their proper discography and Mansion, from what I've read, purposefully tried to avoid over-refinement and keep things loose, which is interesting, but the songs ended up feeling like first drafts of songs that would eventually get scrapped or cut from a straight ahead Dr. Dog album, IMO. I really like the McMicken songs on there though, as some of them feel like tracks that you'd hear on one of his low run solo records on PIAPTK Records. Long story short, I like their last few albums too but I'm hoping for something meatier like anything they did up through Shame Shame and the 70% of Be the Void that I love.

Damn, Abandoned Mansion was incredible. I thought that album was perfect.

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I second the thought on abandoned mansion. Definitely not overly produced, which I loved. And one of their best albums lyrically. 

 

I could listen to that album all day long. 

 

Back in topic, still cannot find a preorder link outside of Amazon. Supposed to be released on Thirty Tigers. 

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10 minutes ago, Multiverse said:

I saw these guys live like 7 years ago and meant to delve further in, does anyone have a good starting point recommendation? 

Anything, except B-Room. (I love Be The Void and  Abandoned Mansion). Seeing them at Observatory OC, come party. 

Edited by ryantark
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1 hour ago, Multiverse said:

I saw these guys live like 7 years ago and meant to delve further in, does anyone have a good starting point recommendation? 

 

1 hour ago, ryantark said:

Anything, except B-Room. (I love Be The Void and  Abandoned Mansion). Seeing them at Observatory OC, come party. 

Yeah. B-Room is probably their most boring/lackluster album, although there are some pretty good single tracks mixed in there. I recommend skimming more than 1-2 of their albums because other than Fate and Shame, Shame, they are all kind of different. You might connect with one side of them and not care for another.

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16 hours ago, Multiverse said:

I saw these guys live like 7 years ago and meant to delve further in, does anyone have a good starting point 

https://www.soundstagedirect.com/dr-dog-live-at-a-flamingo-hotel-vinyl-records.shtml?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwp_UBRD7ARIsAMie3XbtMz2z2ZhkdDNiPiM2bjW0qUsrfhT0wXhixVgHJsccOLa7m6225poaAtlDEALw_wcB

Since your live experience was your starting point, I would suggest live at a flaming hotel. That was my intro. I co mpare that with MMJs O konokos, a fantastic live album and a great representation of their discography. 

 

Edited by unravelled
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On 2/16/2018 at 6:21 PM, ryantark said:

Anything, except B-Room. (I love Be The Void and  Abandoned Mansion). Seeing them at Observatory OC, come party. 

 

On 2/16/2018 at 7:56 PM, swb said:

 

Yeah. B-Room is probably their most boring/lackluster album, although there are some pretty good single tracks mixed in there. I recommend skimming more than 1-2 of their albums because other than Fate and Shame, Shame, they are all kind of different. You might connect with one side of them and not care for another.

 

On 2/17/2018 at 10:51 AM, unravelled said:

https://www.soundstagedirect.com/dr-dog-live-at-a-flamingo-hotel-vinyl-records.shtml?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwp_UBRD7ARIsAMie3XbtMz2z2ZhkdDNiPiM2bjW0qUsrfhT0wXhixVgHJsccOLa7m6225poaAtlDEALw_wcB

Since your live experience was your starting point, I would suggest live at a flaming hotel. That was my intro. I co mpare that with MMJs O konokos, a fantastic live album and a great representation of their discography. 

 

I ended up starting with Shame, Shame and I've been listening to it several times a day. (Commutes back and forth to class etc) I might try that live album next. Thanks peeps!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Just finished listening in to the lp.  Really nice mix although my paper sleeve was shredded! I'm quite surprised that the seam didn't split wide open. 

 

Anywhoo... I don't recall mention of this elsewhere but the entire album sequence is quite different on the lp.   Takes some getting used to but I think it flows better. 

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51 minutes ago, unravelled said:

Just finished listening in to the lp.  Really nice mix although my paper sleeve was shredded! I'm quite surprised that the seam didn't split wide open. 

 

Anywhoo... I don't recall mention of this elsewhere but the entire album sequence is quite different on the lp.   Takes some getting used to but I think it flows better. 

I think I saw somewhere that they had to rush to submit the sequencing for the vinyl and then they changed their mind before the other formats came out.  

 

On the album itself, I'm really liking the sound of this one and the vinyl sounds great.  

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1 hour ago, DC1221 said:

This album sounds great. I'm not sure how much this has to do with it, but this is the first album they've ever recorded in a real, professional studio with a top notch producer.

That's interesting because I didn't know that but couldn't help but think this is the best one of their albums has sounded production wise.   

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1 hour ago, YouTwo said:

I think I saw somewhere that they had to rush to submit the sequencing for the vinyl and then they changed their mind before the other formats came out.  

 

On the album itself, I'm really liking the sound of this one and the vinyl sounds great.  

Confirmed that that's why the sequencing is different. Their keyboardist replied to a comment on Instagram saying that they submitted the track listing for the vinyl production process then, later, had a change of heart and changed the sequence for all mediums afterward. IMO, the vinyl track listing is better. I don't like all the familiar pre-release tracks stacked at the top and there's something nice about the record starting by "coming out of the darkness" on a bright note and then ending with an energetic, rowdier song about "going down fighting".

1 hour ago, DC1221 said:

This album sounds great. I'm not sure how much this has to do with it, but this is the first album they've ever recorded in a real, professional studio with a top notch producer.

Yeah. I love Dr. Dog but they have slowly gotten so deep into Dr. Dog over the last few records that they've lost some accessibility outside of hardcore fans, IMO. Based on one of the interviews last week, I think they reached a breaking point (or had a realization) when they recorded Abandoned Mansion, sat on it for a year plus, and then when they went back to release it, they realized they didn't really dig it very much.  Having a producer to guide them a bit helps them stay focused on making good rock/pop/folk/jammy songs instead of making very Dr. Dog-y Dr. Dog songs, if that makes sense. My anecdotal experience is that I've tried convincing indie rock loving friends to give them a shot for the last 6-7 years and they haven't been able to get into their records (outside a handful of songs) but I've had friends tell me they really dig this album. 

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