Sonic Kismet: Dr. Dog's 'Fate'

DR. DOG BASSIST TOBY LEAMAN isn't sick of all the comparisons his band gets to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Band — he understands people need some indication of the band's sound.

"I don't get annoyed when someone compares us to them because those are the best bands — it's much better being compared to them than being compared to Depeche Mode or something," said Leaman, who splits vocal duties with guitarist Scott McMicken.

"You do need a reference point: 'I don't have any idea what these guys sound like, give me something to hold on to,'" he continued. "It's very hard to verbally describe a sound. The only thing that sometimes bothers me is when we get labeled as derivative or something like that. I've never felt that way. But even then, who cares? Does it matter?"

Nope, it doesn't. The group's sound is equal parts psychedelia, sun-soaked power pop and modern indie rock, and this year could also be the one where Dr. Dog breaks out of the underground: "Fate," perhaps the band's best record yet, hit stores on July 22.

The album's press release states, "'Fate' is the record Dr. Dog was destined to make." But Leaman said, "That kind of statement itself is kind of flawed, stating the obvious — of course it was destined to happen."

If he's right, "Fate's" destiny was sealed along ago when Leaman and McMicken first met on a school field trip in eighth grade. Shortly after, the pair began recording music on four- and eight-track machines. After graduation, Leaman and McMicken were living together at Westchester University and started playing under the Dr. Dog moniker.

In the old days, however, Dr. Dog was a far cry from the tight and focused live band it is now. Back then, the group had one motto: anything goes. Shows weren't performances; they were more like campfire jams. If you had an instrument and could play it, you were welcome to join the band on stage.

"There were two things going on [behind the hootenanny phase]: One, it was hard to find people that we wanted full-time in the band, but we had a lot of friends that we liked to be around that weren't great musicians," Leaman said. "The other idea was ... we used to have a lot more sing-alongs, too; we used to have a lot of songs that were barely songs that were maybe just two chords and people could play around with."

The current model for Dr. Dog wasn't fully realized until McMicken handed My Morning Jacket's Jim James a CD of the band's rough demos after an MMJ show. James liked the lo-fi sounds so much he invited the band to open for MMJ, forcing Leaman and McMicken to assemble a band. Dr. Dog has since supported The Strokes and The Raconteurs on tour as well.

Through those associations and last year's acclaimed "We All Belong" album, the group's been struck with a lot of "next big thing" tags, making "Fate" (recorded on 24-track tape) potentially the album where the band finally "arrives." Leaman said deciding whether Dr. Dog takes the leap to the next level isn't up to the band — it's up to other people.

"We're a slow burn," he said. "We've never really recorded album as a conscious 'This is the next step in our career.' We've always just recorded albums the best we can do at the time. We never really decided to record the kind of album or anything like that. I mean, it'd be great if we got to the next level, that'd be fantastic, I think everybody wants it."

And while it may not be up to the band, as Leaman sings on "The Beach": "Fate has a funny way of coming 'round."

Written by Express contributor Rudi Greenberg

» Dr. Dog plays Iota on Sept. 5, 2008.
» Read our previous feature of Dr. Dog from Nov. 2007

Photos by Elizabeth Weinberg