Dr Dog, "We All Belong"

The first time I ever heard Dr. Dog was in my girlfriend's car down in Santa Cruz. Since I'm a wee in the dark when it comes to contemporary masturbation (that is, music appreciation), she's often my educator on today's musical rad. So it's often an adventure when she puts on a CD. After hearing the first 15 seconds or so of Dr. Dog, I wanted to know more. "Who is this?" I asked as we drove through some stony Santa Cruz forest."Dr. Dog. Never heard them?" "No, where are they from? England or something?" "I'm not sure." "Huh." I continued to listen ... nay, enjoy. "Were they around in the 70's? Or is this a recent recording?" "Dunno." "What's the name of this album?" "I forget. I burned it from a co-worker. It's good, though, huh?" Eh, such is the nature of the beast these days, I suppose. The point is she introduced me to some music that I hoped would one day become a little more concrete. Needless to say, I was more than tickled when their new album, We All Belong, settled in my cross-hairs. I've listened to the album every morning for almost a week now, and there are a few things that really appeal to me as an ignorant, but nonetheless avid, music appreciator.One thing (which isn't always a good thing) is their consistency; what I mean is, if you like their sound, you're probably going to like every song on this album. I don't mean the Cannibal Corpse/Minor Threat kind of consistency, which is awesome sometimes, especially when I'm thirteen years old, alone in my room and pretending to be in that rumble with the socials from The Outsiders. But I'm only that dude a few times a year. For the rest of the time, there's Dr. Dog! Despite the similar charm in every song, each one manages to stand alone is what I'm trying to say here, folks.I also really like their lyrics; you can tell they're actually speaking something, not just randomly poetic words thrown together to look like "someone who knows how to write a song/poem." There were many lines that really stuck to my innards ("Even gluttons gotta eat"; "...sell my soul if I thought you'd take it"; "it's so easy to dream but so hard to say goodnight," just for a glimpse), and although I'm not completely confident that I can relate to their specificity, I still think they're well-written lyrics. Call me old-fashioned, but when a good song also has good lyrics, I'm fucking sold.Even aside from their music, Dr. Dog represents some awesomeness. They come from Philly (so don't even think of fucking with them) and their first album, Easy Beat, was recorded on an 8-track recorder. They sold it themselves at shows and through the mail until it fell into the hands of some folks at many-a-mag, Rolling Stone and Spin to name a couple. The album got all kinds of glowish write-ups, and the next thing they know, they're officially the most kick-ass band you've never heard of. So they commence recording two more albums on an 8-track. This kind of renegade do-it-yourself mentality is the kind of thing that I as a starving retard - I mean "writer" - have to tip my hat towards.We All Belong is their first leap into the 21st century, as it was recorded on a 24-track, 2-inch tape machine. After recording the whole album, they released songs that they didn't feel really fit in with the rest and released them in an EP back in September of '07 called Takers and Leavers. Hell, that might have been the no-identity CD that had materialized in my girlfriend's radio. Either way, if you're a fan, I definitely recommend this one. Consider it a prescription from - never mind; even I'm not enough of a jack-ass to do that joke.