The Black Keys and Gomez at Luna Park

Here's an extended version of my Black Keys and Gomez review that appeared in Drum Media:THE BLACK KEYS
GOMEZ
ASH GRUNWALD
DR. DOG
Big Top, Luna Park
09/01/09

There are plenty of reasons to dismiss Dr. Dog: the shit name, the straw hats and neckerchiefs, their blatantly signposted influences. However, while all the nuances of their music were washed away by the ugly, booming Big Top sound, there was still plenty to enjoy in their country-rock reminiscence. The Philadelphia five-piece’s intelligently-crafted tracks had alternating lead vocals and some were played with bounce while others, like The Breeze, were more slowly built-up.

“I won’t be long dude. It’s alright,” Ash Grunwald joked with a bored-looking Gomez fan in the crowd. With his dreadlocks and shorts, he wouldn’t have looked out of place busking in the tunnel under Central Station, but it wasn’t long before his bone-shaking blues won the crowd over. Half-an-hour and a broken string later, Grunwald made way for a band that seemed to be the main draw for a large section of the crowd.

Gomez received a rapturous reception as they took to the stage. Anyone hoping to hear the big-hits from their debut album, Bring It On, would have been disappointed though, as the band was clearly saving them up for the special tenth anniversary show the following night. Still, Silence and Rhythm & Blues Alibi sounded great. While they might look more like school teachers than rock stars nowadays, new song Back Seat Driver showed they still have fire in their bellies. The most notable aspect of their performance was Ben Ottewell’s vocal. Even ten years after he first unleashed his rich, gravelly voice on an unsuspecting music public, it still sounds extraordinary.Under the backdrop of a massive dream-catcher and totem-pole, The Black Keys set about ripping the room apart with their garage-blues. Drummer Patrick Carney was an absolute monster – all arms and legs – as he bashed the skins harder than anyone has ever hit anything. Meanwhile, beardy guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach came up with one catchy blues riff after another. An extended version of the delicious Girl Is On My Mind was a highlight, as was 10am Automatic. It was visceral stuff, like The White Stripes back when they were thrilling and dangerous.

Two scruffy dudes with drums and one guitar doesn’t sound like the kind of music that would be irresistible to dance to, but there didn’t seem to be a single person in the room who could keep still during their hour-long set.

Dr. Dog - Fate

Shallow as it sounds, it’s hard not to be instantly put off by a band with a name as abysmal as Dr. Dog. I mean, seriously, Dr. Dog? However, if such superficiality were allowed to prevail, then Arctic Monkeys would never have stood a chance, and so we persevere beyond the awful moniker to discover a quintet of Philadelphians offering a decent collection of psychedelic pop/rock with elements of country that sounds like it belongs in another time.

Fate alludes to the likes of The Beatles, The Band and The Byrds and, while at times it all sounds a little derivative, it has clearly been constructed with a genuine love of that era of music. Okay, so the gospel ballad Army of Ancients is clearly a nod to John Lennon and elsewhere things go a bit Sgt. Pepper, but this is not a rip-off, rather an homage to their influences, which offers some interesting moments like the folky The Breeze, which opens the album with lovely vocal harmonies over piano, harmonica and acoustic guitar.

Admittedly, the overt sense of reminiscence here does get a bit grating after a while, and one wonders why you wouldn’t just dust off your old vinyl in favour of this, but if you dip in and out of Fate then you’ll discover some pleasing tracks which certainly do justice to the bands they are inspired by. If nothing else, for a group whose sound is so stuck in the past, Dr. Dog should be applauded for just about avoiding sounding like a straight-up tribute act.