Future Farmer
2005
Easy Beat
About This Album
Philadelphia's Dr. Dog has turned in a remarkable "official" debut (following a couple of homemade releases) with Easy Beat, filtering classic rock hooks through a D.I.Y. indie rock ethic for an utterly infectious album. Recorded at home on 1/4" eight-track tape (and sounding mostly live), what the album lacks in perfect fidelity it more than makes up for in performance because Easy Beat is simply overflowing with the sheer joy of making music. The occasionally strained vocals and the off-mike shouts and handclaps just let you know that these are real musicians in a room together having a blast. The songs are not just catchy and well-written (to the point of sounding familiar upon first listen), they seem completely effortless and are delivered with the same sort of freshness and enthusiasm as the Beatles' Apple Records rooftop concert. And the Beatles comparisons don't end there: "Say Something" and "Easy Beat" both have a very George Harrison-sounding slide guitar, there is some great use of "Don't Pass Me By"-style slapback echo on the drums ("The World May Never Know"), and the end of "Wake Up" brings to mind the singalong outro to "Hey Jude" (not to mention other passing McCartneyisms).
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6)

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