Be The Void

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (45 ratings)
Be The Void album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 47:40

eMusic Review 0

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Dan Hyman

eMusic Contributor

02.03.12
Most effective when the instruments do the heavy lifting
2012 | Label: Anti/Epitaph

After four albums and a moderate, but not life-changing, level of success, Philadelphia indie-pop crew Dr. Dog changed course on 2010′s Shame, Shame. They sought outside production help from Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) and constructed noticeably toned-down and tauter melodic nuggets. Critical praise followed; a popularity increase did not. So for their sixth and most impressive turn to-date, the Brotherly Love oddballs – now recording on their own and with two new bandmembers, drummer Eric Slick and multi-instrumentalist Dimitri Manos – blast back to their bread-and-butter: raw riffs, sing-song harmonies and sonic experimentation filtered through 1960s-pop-tinted shades. Be the Void is bookended by two gems: Opener “Lonesome” swings with a pedal-steel guitar anchored bluesy strut and “Turning the Century” glides under the freaky sway of a twangy sitar. But “That Old Black Hole,” a quirky guitar riot of a single – and easily the album’s most rollicking cut – is a master class in parting with the put-on and getting back to basics. Lyrical inventiveness was never the Dog’s strength. So while singer/guitarist Scott McMicken waxes poetic on the inability to let go (“These Days”) and life’s temporary fulfillments (“Do the Trick”), this crew proves most… read more »

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Press Repeat

SquidGal

Now this is an album. In an age where most bands are churning out a disc with a single or two and bunch of filler that should have stayed on the cutting room floor, this is something you can just let play through. Worthy of the repeat button.

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No producer needed...

ChunkySoup

I love when Dr. Dog produces their own albums! Great sound!!!

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