DODOS – TIME TO DIE
In a bout of rapid-fire creativity, Dodos have released their second album in the space of a year with this short, snappy record – a decidedly more polished affair than last year’s Visiter, which was lauded by critics and fans as a kind of rusty nu-folk masterpiece. The San Francisco duo have expanded on their powerhouse acoustic guitar and drums combo with the addition of a third member Keaton Snyder who plays the vibraphone rather dazzlingly. Still present in these new songs is the fluid finger-picking madness and high-voltage crescendos of lead man Meric Long, whose eerily catchy melodics now more than ever recall the tin-pan-alley romantics of the 1960s. The other distinguishing feature of the band, the remarkably inventive percussive rhythms of drummer Logan Kroeber, is here augmented even further with all manner of found objects clanging away; most notably a kind of modified 40 gallon steel drum which provides a primeval backbone to the record, particularly in the truly impressive This Is A Business and the penultimate Acorn Factory. This is a dense musical romp and a pop statement which, despite its similarities in form and movement to the all-too-recent Visiter, pushes the genre in just the right doses to create a genuinely affecting artwork. Meric’s genius as a songwriter and the intricate energy of the band’s arrangements is a potent formula indeed, raising the bar of quality to match their contemporaries The Shins and Grizzly Bear in their sheer inventiveness.
****
