Album appreciation: "We All Belong" by Dr. Dog

I have a dog and his name is Max. Today, the mother and I brought home all these lovely plants and flowers from the nursery. We displayed them nice `n lovely in the backyard and dog-face Max went and ate `em up when we weren't looking! He chewed up the soil, left the flowers lying on the grass and began gnawing at some plastic flower pots. I wonder if he's a bit depressed and needs to lash out violently to express himself - a canine version of a school shooting, if you will. Flower carnage.

Anyway, this flower ritual is a sign that the summer months are nearly upon us. Honestly, it feels like it was snowing just yesterday. It's absurd the way March and April go by in a blur. Anyway, flowers are a sign of summer and so is Dr. Dog. All the way from Philadelphia hails this group of heavy-harmonizing kids with a crazy fetish for `60's pop. But it came out the wrong month. This isn't a fucking album for February 27th, it's a summer album if I ever heard one, complete with doo-wop vocals, piano twinklin`, fuzz guitar and enough delightful melodic doodles and twirks to kill a buffalo.

You'll be about 0:00 minutes into the album before the adjective "Beatle-esque" pops into your head, assuming you see the snazzy, face collage album cover, bringing to mind a "Sgt. Peppers" feel, filtered through retro stylings. Retro, that's another good word! Though it may take until the 2:41 bridge of "Ain't It Strange" and following accapella break before you accept the wondrous validity of retro Beatle-esque-full-ness.

"Old News" kicks the album off with a lovely pop ditto built around a lovely piano sequence, rounded out with "lalalala" backing harmonies and horns. Honestly, if you can't dig that rough studio jabber intro, you might as well flip the album off here -these guys take `60's pop into the future and they have fun doing it, goddammit!

"A dog from the past started barking.

Anyway, "My Old Ways" happens to be the finest offering on here, with an utterly addictive vocal melody, smoothly handled by the shakey-voiced falsetto of Mr. Shakey-Voiced Falsetto Vocalist.

"I don't ever wann go back to my old ways, cheatin' and creepin' around."

One of those simply perfect pop songs that look like horseshit on paper, but somehow just work. Doo-doo-doo-doo's fill up the brain with love.

The group gets in touch with a more groove-driven R&B sound on "Keep a Friend" and "Alaska", both of which are fantastic showcases for the soulful vocal performances. Then there's "Worst Trip", which proves that ripping off the Beach Boys really is the new black; speaking of which, "Weekend" has a breezy pop feel to it as if right off of the Beach Boys early 1970 masterpiece "Sunflower". "The Way the Lazy Do" is similarly delicious, with meticulous guitar and keyboard flourishes. The album ends on a midly epic note, with the irresistable refrains of the title track.

Anyway, these Pennsylvania fellas seem to operate under the belief that originality is overrated when you're popping out brilliant melodies more consistently than Fred Durst's left nipple and ten times out of eleven, it works! ("The Girl" is the weak link I'm referring to, of course...a bit too heavy on the fuzz and light on the substance.) It won't blow your mind, it won't solve the Arab-Israeli conflict and it won't make pregnant women miscarriage. It will, however, make you whistle and perk with glee, and ain't that the purpose of all simple pop music? After all, pop music is my friend and your friend, and this record is sure to make a surprise appearance on my year-end list (though it ain't number one). Don't pass it up.

"Well, you're looking for the light switch. Click! It's on." (Cue badass guitar doodle.)