(Editor's Note: This is the third installment of a new feature we're throwing against the wall, "Dicks Talking About…" The gist: we listen to a record and then use this forum to semi-argue about it's quality. Read part one and part two, then dive into this bit. If you like the concept, drop us a line in the comments. Word.)
Here's the dirty secret: I like Shame, Shame. Kind of a lot. And more every time I listen to it. I'd call my colleagues responses to Dr. Dog's most recent effort tepid at best. To keep the temperature imagery, if they're a slow simmer, I'm a soft boil. (Editor's note: it probably looks contrived that on day three of our exploration into a new feature, I'm taking a totally different critical approach than Kevin and Justin. It's not; we wouldn't bullshit you. Not our style. I legitimately think the record is good.)
The argument against Shame, Shame seems to be, in part, that it isn't Fate or We All Belong. I'd argue that this is a function of the fickle nature of the music consumer. If a band puts out the same record over and over, we say they're stuck in a rut. (Can anybody really tell the difference between any of the three Band of Horses records? They're all good, but it's essentially one long album, right?). We say that the artist isn't taking chances or growing or whatever. When a band takes a left turn, we pillory them for abandoning their roots. (We gave Heartless Bastards a ton of shit for making a third record that sounded almost nothing like the first two, for instance. (That was probably deserved, but whatever.)) We say they read too many reviews or want to sell more records or whatever. What other endeavor works like this? What system, in the first case, demeans folks who find their niche? What system criticizes its practitioners, in the second case, for trying to grow and change and evolve and improve? Unless you're Neil Young, you're fucked.
All that to say that Shame, Shame is a departure from earlier Dr. Dog material. I love the last two records as much as anybody, but I'm glad the band didn't try to make that record again. I'm glad they're taking chances. Is there a song on the new record that is a strongly psychedelic and jammingly awesome as "Ain't it Strange?" No. Is there a song that imitates Joe Cocker as well as "Army of Ancients?" No. Is there a song as fun as "Alaska?" No.
But.
There's not a song in the Dr. Dog catalog that's as insidiously catchy as "Unbearable Why." (Buy the record, listen to that track. If you're not humming the harmony all day, I'll buy you lunch.) "Later" sounds like some long-evolved distant cousin of "I Can't Fly" (all the way back on Toothbrush) and is cool and funny and smart and sharp as hell. "Where'd All the Time Go" takes that spontaneity that Kevin (and, to be honest, your man Brian as well) craves so much and filters it through a smoother pipe. There are a couple of yelped "yeah"s in that track that remind you that this band is as much about free expression as anybody, but it's in a slicker context. Do I love that slickness? Probably not. Can I live with it? Totally. Would I have told these dudes to stay away from an outside producer? You bet your ass. Not my call though. In the end, this is not going to by my favorite Dr. Dog record. But, happily, it doesn't have to be. I already own my favorite Dr. Dog record. I'm just happy that I get to listen to this one as well.
It does bum me out that these dudes left their label. I'm not privy to any of the relevant details, but I'm not going to be cool with that sort of thing in general. But. You still with your first ever girlfriend? Just asking.
We've got another track from Shame, Shame below. As you listen, imagine it's a band that you don't know anything about. That should help. As an added bonus, I've got some more amazing 80s Yugoslavian pop. I swear to god this one sounds like Shane McGowan fronting a klezmer band. (Is there any way I could crown myself svengali of Euro-pop in much the same way that Aquarium Drunkard has taken the conch shell for Africa?)

























