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The Dodos
Time To Die
Frenchkiss
out September 15th
80/100
[Rating Scale]
[rating:80/100]
Producer Phil Ek seemed to find the right mix of notes for The Shins, Band of Horses, and the Fleet Foxes — it was only fitting that his production prowess and folk-rock-psychedelic style translate over to The Dodos third album effort, Time to Die. Sometimes producers tend to find and hone their talents into a base recipe, adjusting their ingredients to the ones brought into the kitchen by the artists themselves. Seemingly, it looks like the studio antics of Ek and The Dodos churned out a very well executed 9 course album that leaves your auditory senses more than pleased.
Still containing the band-defining acoustic and percussive flavor, the trio’s latest effort emphasizes and defines the typically overused modifier known as maturity. When you listen to this album, ignore the lyrics on your first go-round — or if you are a lyricophile, just try and focus on the marriage displayed between the guitar and the percussion and whole-heartedly feel free to insert any positive adjective here [____]. Now, add in the lyrics with the perfectly tuned vocals and again, add another level of cliche monikers and insert here [___].
To me, the separation between a good and a great album occurs, amongst other things, when, simply, the listener can just listen to the album itself — you can tune in, tune out, zone in, or zone out and still appreciate the music for the music. Time to Die is the perfect example of such an experience where you truly appreciate the emotions evoked by the tunes, whether your brain actually cares or not.
Picking a favorite? Near impossible — all 9 tracks are favorites — effortlessly making each song better as you move forward with each progressive track. If I was forced to choose? “Fables“. Without a doubt (and not very far behind, every other song on the album), is framed nicely by “Longform” and “The Strums”, but my love for this song lies in its Beatles-esque percussion and vocal off-beat progression. I am a sucker for lyrics falling off-beat from the drums and I can’t help but echo its core lyrics — I don’t wanna go in the fire… I just wanna stay in my home…
The Dodos – Longform | mp3
The Dodos – The Strums | mp3
So yes, with their latest effort, this trio is far from extinction and hopefully far from anywhere near a Time to Die because we will all very much be looking forward to their next San Francisco treat.
To enter to win a copy of The Dodos’ Time To Die on vinyl or CD formats (a total of two winners)., leave a comment with your thoughts on the tracks you’ve just sampled, The Dodos, or (if you’ve listened to it) the album. Make sure you leave your name/email address in the provided fields! Entries will be accepted until September 13th
Richard Yoon is contributor here at Pretty Much Amazing. While he’s not runnin’ around the hospital or listening to music, he is blogging over at Music is My Hot Hot Sex.
