Philly favorites Dr. Dog today announced a new album, their first in six years, and with it comes a jaunty new song, “Talk Is Cheap.”
The band teased their return last month with “Still Can’t Believe,” a mellow and reflective fireside number led by singer-guitarist and co-songwriter Scott McMicken; on the new song, bassist Toby Leaman takes center stage and the pulse is quicker, the harmonies stacked, and the chorus massive, with bright staccato keys (a Dr. Dog signature) and gnarly shredding from guitarist Frank McElroy.
In a press release about the record and the release, Leaman says the song is “about my wife and how much I rely on her, how she’s always there for me. It’s funny because I’m not a big love-song guy, but everything I wrote on this album is for her.”
Dr. Dog the album is the band’s 11th studio full-length, and comes out on July 19th; the day after they headline the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater with Fruit Bats on July 18th and just under a week after their big hometown headlining show at The Mann Center on July 13th with Kevin Morby and The Teeth. The record is the band’s first since 2018’s pensive Critical Equation, and their third for We Buy Gold Records. The record can be pre-ordered and pre-saved here, and you can check out the track list and album art down below.
McMicken says in a press release that in the making of the new record, “there was an emphasis on creating something very soulful and live-feeling, which meant starting with all of us looking each other in the eye and connecting to the music. The idea was, ‘Let’s be loose, let’s not overthink.’ The more you can let go of that fear of being imperfect, the more you open yourself up to deeper expression.”
In addition to this record, McMicken just quietly dropped a new solo album called When It’s Happening — his second with The Ever-Expanding — last Friday, April 19th. Drummer Eric Slick’s latest solo outing, New Age Rage, is out this Friday, and he headlines Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday night with Leaman performing an opening set. Leaman’s debut solo EP, Military Applications, came out in 2022. Information on that show (and the Mann Center show) can be found at WXPN’s Concert Calendar.
Dr. Dog the album
Dr. Dog tracklist
1. Authority
2. Lost Ones
3. Fat Dog
4. Talk Is Cheap
5. What a Night’ll Do
6. Tell Your Friends
7. Still Can’t Believe
8. Fine White Lies
9. White Dove
10. Handyman
11. Love Struck
