Dr. Dog’s easy-going pop hasn’t come easy or overnight. Frontmen Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman have been writing songs together since eighth grade, and they’ve helped steer Dr. Dog from its suburban Philadelphia roots to write-ups in the New York Times, dozens of late-night TV appearances, and performances at major festivals the world over. Everything has been done on their own terms, with a maximum ear for melody and harmony that’s hard to match.
Over a decade into their career, Dr. Dog decided to take another turn and build their own recording studio from scratch. Last year’s B-Room was the band’s eighth album and the first to be captured in their new space. The clubhouse feel is immediately apparent; the group built the songs together from the ground up without worrying about studio time. The loose feel better approximates Dr. Dog’s frenzied live shows, and they brought this energy (and road-tested musicianship) to KUTX’s Studio 1A. “Distant Light” was the highlight of the live performance, a song where Dr. Dog pulled beauty from occasional chaos.
