Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog is a band from Philly that apparently has a really big "bro" fan base. I don't actually know this firsthand, but that's the word on the street. Dr. Dog is made up of clearly very talented guys that use a lot of harmonies as well as some controlled chaos, like Man Man (who are also from Philadelphia). But their main sound is heavily based on the piano and their harmonizing voices. The first time I heard Dr. Dog, I actually thought it was an old Beatles song that I had never heard before. While the style of their songs sounds heavily influenced by the Beatles, it really is uncanny how much the lead singer can sound like John Lennon. One specific Beatle's album from which I suspect Dr. Dog draws a lot of inspiration is "Magical Mystery Tour". That CD contains a lot of piano riffs and voice harmonizing at times in songs that Dr. Dog definitely drew from. Take for example, the song "Blue Jay Way" by the Beatles. After John Lennon sings each line in the third verse, his band harmonizes in singing his last word after he does. Very similarly in the second verse of the song Ain't it Strange by Dr. Dog, the lead singer sings his line, and his the rest of his band follows this with a harmonizing "ahhh". While this example is only of one song, many of Dr. Dog's songs follow this kind of singing-backed-with-harmonizing pattern. And although bands do this all the time, Dr. Dog does this in a way significant enough to remind me exactly of the Beatles. Dr. Dog's music sometimes also incorporates other 60's sounds such as doo-wop, but they incorporate other styles that give them their own sound. Dr. Dog is music that you might hear in the summertime by the pool while relaxing. It sounds new, but the reverb or low-fi sound they use for the vocal harmonies is what makes it sound retro as well. Below are three songs by Dr. Dog and two songs by the Beatles. Four of them incorporate back-up harmonizing, which I think are very similar. "Fool's Life" by Dr. Dog is an example of while their sound does borrow from 60's rock, they have their own sound at the same time.