Dr. Dog: We All Belong : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On their 2005 breakthrough, "Easy Beat," Dr. Dog made scruffy indie rock that pushed pleasure buttons while showing the band's seriously retro steez. We All Belong is even better. The Philly quintet's low-fi, throwback sound -- cf. Beatles, Beach Boys, Chicago -- is still in effect. But the more you listen, the less Dr. Dog's influences seem to matter, since the songs are so damn likable. Dr. Dog's strong tune-sense drives winners like the Band-jacking "Alaska" and the charming "The Way the Lazy Do." There are whimsical touches and plenty of ideas: Airy backing vocals and perky piano are routinely deployed, and "The Girl" bounces between a Neil Young verse, a bright chorus and an almost epic psych-rock coda. Even when a sense of agitation seeps in, as on "Die, Die, Die," We All Belong sounds truly inviting. Dig it.