Listen: The Dodos - "Forum"

One of my favorite things about San Francisco duo The Dodos is that each release of theirs arrives after the band have essentially had a creative existential crisis. The Dodos are a band that is so invested in the notion of improving upon themselves and trying something different that every time they set about writing and recording new material, the duo reflect upon what it is that they want to do. They experiment with sounds, instruments, their harmonic language and the result has always been something different that still pulls from the duo's core percussive language. This type of forethought and continual attempts to challenge themselves has made The Dodos one of the most consistent bands and Certainty Waves, the newest effort from singer/songwriter/guitarist Meric Long and drummer/percussionist Logan Kroeber is the latest attempt at the band to define themselves anew. It's also a record that arrives after a break from music that resulted in the recording and release of an album from Long's new solo synth-based project FAN earlier this year.

"Forum", the first single from their upcoming record, is essentially a deconstruction of what The Dodos have done for the better part of a decade. As The Dodos have explored various guitar tones and the addition of strings and the like in previous records, "Forum" essentially blends all that together while beginning at a bold sprint. The guitars are the star as a creative crisis and the re-learning of their sophomore record Visiter for its 10 year anniversary essentially revealed to the band that they were more than just an acoustic guitar and drum band and gave Long the creative freedom to amp up more than he thought the band had. The result is a guitar pop surge. "Forum" is pretty unrelenting - never quite slowing down from the spirited bolt of its initial moments. Instead Long and Kroeber plow through a series of ideas and variations that all feed into the song's frenetic energy. By returning to their roots, the band has charted a radically different course in the present - one that marries many of the band's interests into a heady mix of multi-layered, synth-tinged piece of guitar-fueled rock pop that bristles with energy. It's a remarkable return to form and one that highlights exactly why The Dodos' continuous attempts to define themselves and realign are so incredibly fruitful.



Certainty Waves, the seventh album from The Dodos is out October 12th on Polyvinyl. You can pre-order it now.