local and I’m listening: the Dodos
the Dodos @ Cafe du Nord 3/29/07
I was pretty well surprised by the Dodos when they opened for Adem last week. They are aka Dodo Bird and Meric announced during the show that they’d be changing their name next Month. I imagine their website and myspace will stay the same, though.
I got their latest Beware of the Maniacs at the show and I’ve listened to it probably a dozen times since then. I like it a lot, but I’m not sure what to make of it, how to classify it. The Dodos are Meric Long on guitar and vocals and Logan Kroeber on drums (a kit with 3 toms, one cymbal, a snare and a tambourine strapped to his foot). It’s rock; it’s folk; it has finger-picked guitar lines like fine bluegrass or old-timey; it has rhythmically intense synchronization among instruments like math rock. It’s disorienting at times. At other times, it’s straightforward, even pretty or delicate. Sometimes it’ll go through all these things in a matter of a few dozen seconds.
“Men” is kind of like what I remember of their live show: melody and rhythm and brilliant musicianship (but at the same time, the appearance of sloppiness). It starts as a pretty song and then drifts before snapping back together at the end.
the Dodos – Men (mp3)
“Lily” is much more of a straight forward song, with guitar, voice and toy piano.
the Dodos – Lily (mp3)
They also have more mp3s available for download on their myspace and webpage. You can buy their albums for $10 and $7 (I’d recommend Beware of the Maniacs) on their merch page.
I’m definitely going to catch them Thursday, April 5 with Wovenhand at Stanford’s 750 Pub (FREE!). Check out more tour dates after the jump, including west coast stuff and a vaguely hinted-at NYC/ east coast tour starting May 22.
[Update: Does this post at Deli SF look familiar? Pretty suspicious, Deli. (note: I'm being facetious; I think it's a coincidence.)]
Apr 4 2007 9:00P 12 Galaxies/San Francisco w/Wovenhand
Apr 5 2007 8:00P Stanford University/Palo Alto- w/Wovenhand
Apr 6 2007 8:00P The Attic/Santa Cruz w/ Wovenhand
Apr 9 2007 8:00P Brick by Brick/San Diego w/Wovenhand
Apr 10 2007 8:00P Silverlake Lounge/Los Angeles, CA w/Wovenhand
Apr 11 2007 8:00P Silverlake Lounge/Los Angeles, CA w/Wovenhand
Apr 18 2007 9:00P Sam Bonds/Eugene, OR
Apr 19 2007 9:00P Holocene/Portland, OR
Apr 20 2007 8:00P The Parkade/Richland, WA
Apr 21 2007 9:00P Yakima Sports Center/Yakima, WA
Apr 23 2007 8:00P Comet Tavern/Seattle, WA w/ Whalebones
May 9 2007 8:00P UCSC/ Santa Cruz w/Alela Diane
May 15 2007 8:00P Steynberg Gallery/San Luis Obispo w/Alela Diane
May 16 2007 8:00P Mission Creek Music Festival/San Francisco, CA
May 22 2007 8:00P NYC-east coast tour, New York City
[...] 5/16 King City, The Dodos, Alela Diane, Two Sheds, The Hallflowers @ Elbo Room. Holy crap the Dodos are good! [...]
[...] I love local high energy experimental folksters the Dodos. Recently they were featured at Daytrotter. I’d recommend going over and getting all the free mp3s. The mix is good and Dodos are playing well. There are even two new songs there for you. [...]
[...] Three of my favorite acoustic-based/ folky local bands are playing a set of three events in the upcoming couple months. The bands are Or, the Whale (myspace, local and I’m listening @ ipmn); the Dodos (myspace, local and I’m listening @ ipmn) and Beatbeat Whisper (myspace, local and I’m listening @ ipmn). [...]
[...] The Dodos: cool. I’m totally in support of that. Jim Morrison meets Beirut? What?? The Dodos are a high energy folk group with often finger-picked guitar, bluesy elements and experimental-leaning drumming. Jim Morrison lead an organ-driven psychedelic blues-rock band (that was totally and unapologetically shitty). Beirut is a Eastern-European and French influence, brassy indie pop band that didn’t even have guitars on their first album. [...]
[...] It’s a hair over a year since I first heard the Dodos (myspace), a show that caused me to Local and I’m Listening series and left me obsessed for months. (I may have caught on early but I was certainly not the first[1].) I liked them enough to tell a number of people to get to another Dodos show five days later early enough to see them. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an opening band cold and wanted to see them again five days later, but I did. I’ve since been song obsessed, hosted them at KZSU and seen them yet again. This was all before Visiter came out and they got all that attention. [...]
[...] the Dodos [...]