Dr. Dog – The Psychedelic Swamp

Psychedelic or Experimental?

The Psychedelic Swamp is a collection of old songs that the band Dr. Dog wrote during its formative years. Even though the band has tried to incorporate influences of psychedelic rock in this album, the outcome is quite different and sounds as if the band is reaching for something more experimental. 

Imagine what would happen if a seventeen year old boy fascinated by electronic music is handed a monophonic synthesizer like a Minimoog and is asked to add background synth patterns to a Beatles album. The outcome would be very similar to the songs in this album. Dr. Dog has tried to incorporate new elements to their songwriting skills by using old-fashioned synthesizer sounds and muddy string patches to deliver a vintage sound. However, such experimentations without a clear motive or focus have resulted in monotonous soundscapes that might have worked for a video game or sci-fi movie background track, but not for all thirteen tracks in an album.

The album opens with a country style track called “Golden Hind,” having a good flow and well-spaced verse and chorus structure. It is interesting to hear the ornamentations used to decorate this track which sound like some ‘aliens invading earth theme’ but matches quite well with the song. The fourth track titled “Bring My Baby Back” is by far the best song in this album and has received a positive response from the masses and media. This song is worthy of being a part of an afternoon playlist at work. “Holes In My Back” is closest in terms of the psychedelic feel and sounds like some track from a Pink Floyd album. Use of slide guitar in the track titled “Engineer Says” and a jazz scatting influenced saxophone solo in the end makes this track worth listening to.

It really depends on the taste of a listener to figure out the fondness of an album like this. Listeners whose iPods are full of songs of artists like The Beach Boys might enjoy this album. It seems like the album was recorded in a garage studio and lacks the sound quality of a professionally mastered and mixed album. Knowing that Dr. Dog has a reputation of making good music, their fans might have expected more from The Psychedelic Swamp.