Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alive and kicking, 10 May 2008
The Dodos are an exciting new band that blend freak folk with latin influences and blues. Their debut `Visiter` sees the duo create often cacophanous and frenetic songs mostly from acoustic (sometimes slide) guitars, banjo, pounding percussion and occasional horns. It is a raw template that recalls, by turns, The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Animal Collective (circa `Sung Tongs`) and, more recently, The Ruby Suns. While texturally minimalistic, the songs are structurally expansive, shifting in and out of delicate balladry to rollicking jams.
The sing-song, nursery-rhyme melodies contrast with The Dodos' wild percussive energy which is at the distinctive core of almost all their tracks. 'Visiter` is rendered with an air of live spontaneity, a rawness and volatility emphasised by crazed backing vocals yelped from the back of the mix. The style stretches a little thin over the course of 14 tracks; momentum is notably lost on more throwaway efforts and inconsequential one minute doodles. But the rawness belies a more formalistic approach to songcraft that recalls the song-within-a-song dynamics of Grizzly Bear. A substantial debut then from an exciting new band with much to admire and enjoy; if you like this check out aforementioned artists, especially Grizzly Bear's `Yellow House` and The Ruby Suns' `Sea Lion`.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best..., 24 Mar 2008
Blues guitar and wonderfully catchy vocals from one guy, and drums that don't sit at the back and merely carry the music, but take the forefront as vital as any lead instrument from the other guy. Between the two of them, they create exciting, fun, heavy, poppy, experimental, bluesy music that has to be loved. One of the very very best of 2008.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Visiter, 26 Jul 2008
Having heard 'Visiter' playing in a record shop I did what I almost never do and asked at the counter what was playing and then promptly bought it! Some tracks stand out immediately, with the great guitar playing and driving drums and others take a few more listens, but once you get a feel for this album you will be very impressed. It's nothing like the usual pap in the charts at the moment (thank heavens) and sounds all the stronger for it. The booklet is very 'spare' to say the least, but that is of minor concern once you've got the album in your stereo and you're enjoying the music they create. If you like bluesy (although not quite the best description), original music then this is the album for you, well worth a try.
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