The dodo. A euphemism in American culture for some thing that isn’t in popular favor anymore. The San Francisco duo The Dodos are another story. Blowing up many a music blog since even before its release on March 18, 2008, The Dodos new album, Visiter deserves all the good press it can get.
To the amateur Dodo-ist, the lilting voice of lead singer Meric Long is a welcomed change from the standard vocalist. Along with Long’s vocals, The Dodos sound as a whole hearkens back to the early AND late sixties, when folk and the psychedelic reigned supreme. However, finding one genre to describe The Dodos is a difficult task to accomplish. Each song is different from the last. The frantic nature of Visiter’s “Fools” and “Jodi” don’t seem to match up with the close-your-eyes-and-listen quality of “Joe’s Waltz” and yet, The Dodos make these seemingly incompatible sounds blend together into what will surely become one of 2008’s best albums. I’m pretty sure we’ll all be okay living another 300 years without the dodo, but the music world will surely be kinder than the 16th century to these Dodos.
