popwreckoning

I’m an idiot. I’ve lived 19 of my 23 years in Philadelphia and know that South Street on a Saturday night at 9PM is going to be insane. I know that there won’t be any easy street parking when I’m racing to get to the TLA to see [my beloved] The Dodos open with The Big Sleep for Les Savy Fav. I missed the beginning of The Dodos’ set in my half hour quest to find a parking spot (and I was thisclose to parking illegally), but my night turned around when I walked into the TLA and finally heard the sweet sound Meric Long and Logan Kroeber.

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Long and Kroeber opened with “The Ball” from previous album Beware Of The Maniacs before launching into five tracks from current release Visiter, beginning with the sweet, mellow, seven-minute serenade “Joe’s Waltz,” that ends with a cacophony of sound. The much shorter “It’s That Time Again” followed before the duo broke into the poppy and staccato beat “Paint the Rust.”

Internet single “Fools” followed in an energetic display of both Long’s and Kroeber’s musicianship. The crowd was most definitely into The Dodos as the set was rounded out beautifully with the lively “Red & Purple,” featuring lots of soft, twinkly percussion.

The Dodos played a short set bursting with energy that engaged the audience 100%. The TLA was maybe 1/4 full, but those lucky enough to be around for The Dodos’ set instantly found a new favorite band as they chanted “One more song!” as the group finished “Red & Purple.” Check out The Dodos’ tour dates below so you can be sure to catch this dynamic duo in action!

Set List: The Ball, Joe’s Waltz, It’s That Time Again, Paint The Rust, Fools, Red & Purple

Tour Dates:
Apr 9 – Soundscape Instore/Toronto, Ont.
Apr 9 – El Mocambo/Toronto, Ont.
Apr 10 – Bard College/Annandale on the Hudson, Ny.
Apr 11 – Mohawk/Buffalo, Ny.
Apr 12 – Garfield Artworks/Pittsburgh, Pa.
Apr 13 – Pats in the Flats/Cleveland, Oh.
Apr 15 – Cafe Bourbon St./Columbus, Oh.
Apr 16 – The Pike Room/Detroit, Mi.
Apr 17 – The Note/Chicago, Il.
Apr 18 – Shoreland Ballroom/University of Chicago, Il.
Apr 19 – Culture Shock Festival at Indiana University/Bloomington, In. w/Mahjongg and Beachhouse
Apr 20 – Replay Lounge/Lawrence, Ks.
Apr 21 – Hi Dive/Denver, Co.
Apr 23 – Amoeba/Los Angeles, Ca. 6:00 pm
Apr 27 – Great American Music Hall/San Francisco, Ca. w/Les Savy Fav (All Ages)
May 02 – Natural History Museum/Los Angeles, Ca.
May 14 – Amoeba/San Francisco, Ca. 6 pm
Jun 19 – The Independent/San Francisco, Ca. w/The Ohsees and Dreamdate
Jun 24 – The Doug Fir/Portland, Or. w/The Ohsees
Jun 25 – KEXP/Seattle, Wa.
Jun 25 – Neumos/Seattle, Wa. w/The Ohsee
Jun 28 – Sled Island Festival/Calgary
Jul 02 – Downtown Boise Summer Series Festival/Boise, Id.
Jul 19 – Sirens Festival/Brooklyn, Ny.
Aug 7 – Oya Festival/Oslo, Norway
Aug 8 – Way Out West Festival/Gothenburg, Sweden
Aug 9 – Haldern Festival/Rees-Haldern, Germany


The Dodos: website | myspace | Visiter review

Out Today!

The Dodos Visiter review
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San Francisco’s The Dodos are releasing their sophomore album on March 18th via French Kiss Records, and rest assured that this is no sophomore slump.

The band was originally a one man acoustic act that consisted of Meric Long under the moniker Dodobird playing acoustic shows around San Francisco. He set out to create a band in which percussion could take the forefront of its compositions. Luckily enough, Meric was introduced to Logan Kroeber, who was familiar with drumming experimentation. The two joined together and eventually became The Dodos, releasing Beware of the Maniacs in 2006, and quitting their jobs to tour the country. While touring between the fall of 2006 and the summer of 2007, The Dodos managed to writer Visiter in its entirety, and much of the lyrical inspiration comes from being on the road.

Visiter was recorded in the same studio and with the same producer as Beware of the Maniacs, yet was approached completely differently. With their second full-length, The Dodos wanted to capture the energy of a live show. Meric and Kroeber laid down basic drum and guitar takes concurrently and did very little to the recordings in post-production, which shines through in the percussion’s raw nature in songs such as “Joe’s Waltz.” While the guitar and drums remain edgier, the vocals on Visiter have an ambient feel, which was captured by experimentation of microphone placement in the studio.

No strangers to experimentation and spontaneous inspiration, Meric and guest trumpeter Cory Gray started an impromptu horn session during inspiration gained from a thunderstorm passing through. Bits of this organic horns session can be heard on both the debut single “Fools” (mp3 below!) and on the lengthy and well-crafted “Joe’s Waltz.” Meric’s initial vision of drumming being the center of the songs shines through each track as the vocals, guitar and horns fight for attention, creating a gorgeous blend of sound. The hooky beats in The Dodo’s second single “Jodi,” pulls you in and dares you not to dance around. Precision-laden percussion creates crisp beats layered with poppy and melodic guitar riffs that is nothing but complimented by mellowed vocals. The Dodos have created an amazing CD from minute one all the way through to minute sixty.

Look for Visiter out March 18th on French Kiss Records. Until then, download single “Fools” below and check out The Dodos on tour (date below)!

Tour Dates:
Mar 7 - USC/Los Angeles, CA
Mar 8 - The Smell/Los Angeles, CA (all ages!)
Mar 9 - Bar Pink Elephant/San Diego, CA
Mar 11 - The Line Bar/Juarez, Mexico
Mar 12 - French Kiss Showcase @ The Mowhawk/Austin, TX @ 12 am
Mar 13 - American Songwriter Day Party @ Tap Room/Austin, TX @ 2:30 pm
Mar 13 - Solar Stage @ 6th and Lamar/Austin, TX @ 6:00 pm
Mar 14 - Hot Freaks Day Party @ The Mohawk/Austin, TX @ 1:00 pm
Mar 14 - Leafy Green Showcase @ Emos Jr./Austin, TX @ 9:00 pm
Mar 15 - SFXSXSW Day Party/Austin, TX @ Bourbon Rocks 6th St @ 4:00 pm
Mar 16 - Mohawk/Austin, TX
Mar 18 - Good Records/Denton, TX (in-store)
Mar 19 - Lola�s/Ft. Worth, TX
Mar 20 – The Conservatory/Oklahoma City, OK
Mar 22 - Ballroom/Marfa, TX Mar 23 Mink/Houston, TX
Mar 25 - The Bottletree/Birmingham, AL
Mar 26 - Lenny�s/Atlanta, GA
Mar 27 - Harvest Records/Asheville, NC
Mar 28 - Bull City Headquarters/Durham, NC
Mar 29 - Tea Bazaar/Charlottesville, VA
Mar 30 - DC 9/Washington D.C.
Mar 31 – Death By Audio/Brooklyn, NY
Apr 2 - Cafe 9/New Haven, CT
Apr 3 - Terrace Room @ Princeton/Princeton, NJ
Apr 4 - Black Cat/Washington D.C.
Apr 5 – Theater of Living Arts/Philadelphia, PA
Apr 6 - Mercury Lounge/New York , NY
Apr 8 - Divan Orange/Montreal, QC
Apr 9 - El Mocambo/Toronto, ON
Apr 10 – Bard College/Annandale on the Hudson, NY
Apr 11 – Mohawk/Buffalo, NY Buffalo
Apr 12 - Garfield Artworks/Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 13 - TBA /Cleveland, OH
Apr 15 - Cafe Bourbon St./Columbus, OH
Apr 16 - The Pike Room/Detroit, MI
Apr 17 - The Note/Chicago, IL
Apr 18 - Shoreland Ballroom/University of Chicago, IL
Apr 19 - Culture Shock Festival at Indiana University/Bloomington, IN
Apr 20 - Replay Lounge/Lawrence, KS
Apr 21 - Hi Dive/Denver, CO
Apr 26 – Coachella as part of Akron/Family�s band
Apr 27 – Great American Music Hall/San Francisco, CA
May 14 – Rickshaw Stop/San Francisco (All Ages!)
Jun 28 – Sled Island Festival/Calgary Calgary, AB
Jul 2 – Downtown Boise Summer Series Festival Boise, ID

The Dodos: website | myspace
French Kiss Records: website