Lister

By Thomas Meesenburg
Translated by Sara Marie Atkinson

The Dodos was originally a one-man project that started three or four years ago. However, when lead singer and guitarist Meric Long didn’t think it was fun making music alone any more, he got drummer Logen Kroeber to join the band through a mutual acquaintance. And it did not take long before the two knew they were on to the right thing:

“I think it happened when we were recording our first record “Beware of the Maniacs”. We came up with this song called “The Ball”, and we actually separately came up with the same beat at the same time. We had both thought of it at work, and we were like “Wow, this is the same beat!” It was the first heavier song we had, and we thought “This works”, and we had found a sound to develop,” Meric explains.

Like children’s fists

Since then the band, originally from California, has developed a distinctive sound through a lot of live shows, that is at once simple and explosive, not least because of the distinctive rhythms that set the band apart from other American folk-inspired bands.

Perhaps because of this, The Dodos have been difficult to categorise and have thus been called anything from psych-rock to new weird America, and therefore I ask Meric how he feels about the many designations of genre that have been affixed the band.

“I love them!” he laughs.

“No, they are a necessary thing. I’m always surprised by what people tell us we sound like to the point where I am never surprised anymore. It’s hard to characterise things but the human brain feels the need to do so.” 

The lead singer’s own description of the band’s music is more alternative:

“We sound like… angry tantrum kids throwing a fist.”

New album and new member

The Dodos arrive at Roskilde Festival carrying fresh recordings. In August they release the album “Time to Die”, which according to Meric represents a shift towards a more mature sound.

“Visiter was our first step into this music world, and it had this desperateness, kind of grasping in anything we could do. In this album we have spent a long time writing and developing the songs, and I think it’s more of a cohesive album. And we have a whole new member playing with us, who plays vibraphone.”

The album is at the same time the first that features the vibraphonist Joe Haener as a fully-fledged member, something that certainly makes a difference in the sound image. How much will be revealed during the summer’s concerts, where Meric Long hopes the new material will be well-received:

“We will be playing some of the material from the record, and something even newer. So come with an open mind.”