Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly

July 23, 2008

Dr. Dog

Fate

Park The Van

The sound of a train moving

down the line between songs

is meant to illustrate Dr. Dog’s

conviction that this set of

songs is thematically

linked. “We realized pretty

early on that the songs

tied together,” says

singer/songwriter/bassist

Toby Leaman. “We really don’t

know how–and I’m still not

completely sure–but we know

they do.”

I didn’t like the last Dr. Dog

album, We All Belong, nearly

as much as I should have,

according to friends. One of

them convinced me to see the

band live. I was very impressed,

and began to rethink my opinion.

But Fate confirms that my

original judgment was correct.

Make no mistake, Dr. Dog is

an extremely ambitious band,

and they’re due credit for that.

I can picture the band sitting

around saying, “Look, The

Beatles made Sgt. Pepper on

a four-track. We can do this.”

Every time out, they are

attempting to make their own

masterpiece. But they’re trying

too hard, and the results often

don’t live up to expectations.

There is no denying the talent

here. You can hear it in songs

like “The Ark” and “The Beach.”

Too often though, the band opts

for production technique over

heart. I am convinced that hey

have greatness in them, and

that eventually we’ll get the

album that Dr. Dog is capable

of making.

In A Word: Cutesy

Grade: B

—by Ken Shane