Passed Away, Vol. 1

iTunes Review

Indie retro-poppers Dr. Dog spent some time in 2007 digging up four- and eight-track recordings from the last five years, finding a handful of diamonds in the rough worthy of further studio treatment for Passed Away, Vol. 1.  Smartly, the band avoided over-polishing these filed away gems, and the organic, uneven and sometimes pained take on each song is what gives the collection real heart. Fans of low-fi, “bedroom” music will swoon to the warm, recorded-in-a-coat-closet fuzz wrapped around “I’m Standing in the Light” and “Little Bird,” and do a double-take on “Going Home,” which eerily evokes John Lennon at his living room piano. There’s a bit of spirited fun in “Oh My God,” which has all the markings of a late-night hootenanny winding down amid empty bottles and a dying fire. The real find is the seven minute opus, “The Man Who Was Wrong,” with its Leonard Cohen-styled guitar strumming, deflated vocals and burst of noisy self-flagellating at the end conveying anguished, romantic regret. Passed Away is a solid, complex work, offering – rough edges and all –  a deeper connection to the band.