October 1st, 2013 
Em 
Artist: Dr. Dog
Album: B Room
Genre: Psych-Rock, Folk
Label: Anti-
“I’m fine on the shelf.”
That’s the refrain repeated over and over and over (9 times, I counted) on “Broken Heart,” the second track from Dr. Dog’s latest effort, B Room. And while Toby Leaman’s lyrics are as earnest and heartfelt on this song as they’ve ever been, it’s hard to believe that the vocalist of a band that’s putting out its seventh full-length in just over a decade could possibly feel comfortable on the shelf – or anywhere that isn’t a studio. Leaman and the rest of his Philadelphia-based sextet have regularly churned out solid, folksy rock records over the last ten years, and their most recent is no exception.
B Room takes its name from the silver-smith mill on the outskirts of Philly that Dr. Dog converted into a recording studio before getting to work on the record. But the studio space wasn’t the only new element in the album’s construction. The band changed up their writing strategy as well, working more collaboratively than ever before and recording most of the album live.
This latest record has been billed by both the band and their label as a soulful departure from previous Dr. Dog material, and with such drastic changes taking place so close to the album’s release it seems logical that there would be a noticeable difference in its sound. But despite the complete overhaul of both their studio space and recording process, the foot-stomping, hand-clapping blues rock that fills this album makes it almost indiscernible from the ones that came before it. Luckily, the band has found a way to polish their sound without letting it become stale or predictable. Leaman and guitarist Scott McMicken share vocal duties as always, which allows for more variation from track to track, and the band does occasionally try to step out of their comfort zone at least a little. “Too Weak To Ramble” is certainly soulful – a beaten-down acoustic tune that lets Leaman showcase his beautifully plaintive crooning – and is one of the more bare-bones songs that the band has released in recent memory. The glittery “Twilight,” with its harpsichord and theremin, is a welcome deviation from the more rhythm-driven tracks on the album, and sounds almost like a song that would come out of a child’s music box. (If, you know, music boxes could also play fuzzy vocals about falling asleep under the stars with the one you love.)
Ultimately, despite revamping their entire approach to writing and recording, Dr. Dog have crafted an album that’s a fairly natural progression from last year’s Be The Void. You can put the kid in a converted silver mill, but he’s still going to sing the blues. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
Score: 7/10
Review written by: Emily Cassel
Buy B Room here
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