Visiter

The Dodos stand out from the general bulk

A tendency to mix different musical branches is popular today as never before. You can find simply anything while reading descriptions of young bands. The phrases like dance-metal or electro-punk are slowly coming to normal. However it is still hard to say that there exists some sort of a separate genre, which is based on amalgamation of other ones. For the most part stylistic experiments sound isolated and generally are hard to categorize. The musicians take something as a basis and screw on different elements hoping that it will work. As a result we have tones of albums that sound a bit inarticulately and unsteadily, however, sometimes you can find pretty interesting things among them. Thus, for example, the band called The Dodos manages to stand out from the general bulk. This American duo exists since 2006 but their discography already includes two studio albums. Their first record Beware Of The Maniacs went almost unnoticed by the public but luckily it didn’t throw the musicians into confusion, quite on the contrary, it only urged them to create a new record called Visiter, which was issued this year.

The Dodos are oriented on acoustic sound

You cannot describe The Dodos’ music as something extra experimental but it is still hard to label it as something definite and well known. Like many other contemporary bands The Dodos are the followers of experimental approach. However, one can fearlessly say that the basis of their music lies in traditional acoustic folk. The Dodos sound quite distinctly and don’t try to burden listeners with superfluous sounds on every single song. And of course this helps them to find a short path to their listeners. The process of acceptance is very important for any kind of music and in the case of The Dodos it was simplified to the minimum. The band is oriented on acoustic sound. The basic instruments are guitar, percussion and peaceful and calm vocals. Sometimes they use banjo and wind instruments but their role is quite insignificant. However, despite such a scant set of tools The Dodos mange to create pretty intriguing compositions, which obviously cannot be placed in the borders of folk-rock standards.

Visiter as an album sounds fully confidently

The first minutes of the record may produce a false impression about the band. Everything sounds too calm and too traditional on the first track. Walking serves as a peculiar introduction to the album and doesn’t reflect the true face of The Dodos in a full measure. The album unfolds gradually; it offers to get into the essence of the music on a step-by-step basis. The musicians have an interesting approach to percussions and rhythm. You can give a try to Red And Purple or Fools for instance to figure this feature out. The specific air of the songs needs special mentioning either. Despite that fact that the music as a whole has a pretty friendly character the atmosphere sounds mystically and a little bit sad all the same. It is hard to say why but this is definitely one of the main features of Visiter. By the end of the album the musicians begin falling into psychedelic experiments. Such songs as Jodi or The Season are carrying a very bright imprint of this genre. Overall, Visiter as an album sounds fully confidently. It is hard to call it a masterpiece but those who love different kinds of sonic attempts in the field of garage/indie rock will surely appreciate this album at its true value.