Indie Rock Hit Parade Live Session: Dodos

Dodos | Photo by Kelsey Stanger

Our latest Indie Rock Hit Parade live session is with a band that has visited our studios several times since forming ten years ago. The Dodos are singer/guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber, and this year they released their sixth full-length album, Individ. Though they’ve been reliable mainstays of the San Francisco scene for a decade, the Dodos’ are hardly comfortable resting on past success. Though they’ve tried adding layers (and players) to their sound, the core duo of Long and Kroeber proves to be the band’s most powerful asset. Joined this time around by sound engineer Ian Pellecchi and his tasteful sampler manipulations, the Dodos sound reinvigorated in this sprawling live set.

Using an array of effects pedals on his guitar and vocals, Long is alternately fragile and wild on “Goodbyes & Endings.” Long and Kroeber lock into a groove as they run through Individ‘s lead single, “Competition.” One of the more experimental tracks in the Dodos’ catalog, “The Tide” is a jittery collision of Long’s nervy guitar and Kroeber’s trademark agile percussion. On the closing song, “Precipitation,” the pair join in a cathartic vocal coda as Long’s guitar switches into maximum overdrive.

Download the complete Dodos Indie Rock Hit Parade Session below, and check out some photos from the in-studio performance.