Shame, Shame

On the surface it might seem like Shame, Shame is more of the same from Dr. Dog, and in many ways it is. They still sound basically the same and still write great rock tunes straight out of the early '70s. But there are some key differences from their past albums as well. They've brought in an outside co-producer for the first time (Rob Schnapf) and scaled back the production excesses of Fate. Don't worry; Shame, Shame still has all the sweet backing vocals you'd expect and plenty of interesting/oddball production details, but it's the songs that are at the forefront, not the production. And while they don't seem autobiographical or even specific, the lyrics sound more like they're drawn from real life, giving an added depth that hadn't really been there before. There's also a bit more of a world-weary undercurrent, but it's never sad or depressing (probably just a symptom of too much touring). But that said, this is still a Dr. Dog album and it's bound to put a smile on your face. These guys have a real knack for making classic-sounding rock & roll and Shame, Shame is the sound of a fine band really hitting its stride. ~ Sean Westergaard