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Don't Let This Band's Odd Name Fool You

Big Hassle

Alternative rock band Dr. Dog brings its rich, quirky, harmony-laden pop to Crowbar on Thursday.

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 12, 2009

There are names that seem to sum up a band's sound and image in a few syllables.

Then there's Dr. Dog.

Whatever music the name Dr. Dog might suggest, it probably isn't the rich, quirky, harmony-laden pop this Philadelphia band makes.

Unless you're a member of Dr. Dog.

The name "encapsulates what we thought the band was going to be," says bassist Toby Leaman. He's talking by phone from his Wilmington, Del., home, making the proximity of his tongue to his cheek hard to gauge.

"I like that people have a problem with it," Leaman says. "That to me makes it even more appealing. 'They're great, despite the awful name,'" he says with a laugh.

Leaman and Scott McMiken formed Dr. Dog in 1999 while both were swapping off guitar and drum duties in Raccoon, playing music that was "loud and disjointed, in the vein of Pavement."

The pair's desire to make music that was "more melodic and harmonic and grander," in Leaman's words, led to an amicable departure from Raccoon.

"What we wanted was to just try to do things that would grow us as musicians and songwriters," Leaman says. "The stuff we were trying to do was more complicated and harder and more fulfilling than other bands we were in.

"Plus, it came from a better spot," Leaman says. "It didn't come from an angsty, post-punk, punching walls kind of attitude. Dr. Dog is coming from a more positive attitude."

Part of that was getting in touch with classic rock roots. Dr. Dog - which also includes guitarist Frank McElroy, keyboardist Zach Miller and drummer Justin Stens - has drawn comparisons to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Band.

Another part is just growing up.

"The bands we were into were nihilistic and negative," Leaman says. "What are you going to write about when you're 18 or 19? Being confused and pissed off, and not having any idea why. When you realize there are positive things you can think about, you want to distance yourself from negativity musically."

Playing different music meant learning new skills, like harmony singing.

Leaman credits guitarist Doug O'Donnell, who left Dr. Dog in 2004, with leading the harmony charge.

"His family played bluegrass and he was a huge Beach Boys fan," Leaman says of O'Donnell. "He really stressed harmonies and made us work on them."

The results weren't always pretty.

"We have to swallow our pride and accept that it's gonna sound awful before it sounds great," Leaman says.

"It's not always fun and it can be embarrassing," Leaman says. "When it sounds awful it's the worst, it can be emasculating when you're trying to hit a note. They either sound great or they sound awful."

The band's fifth and latest album, "Fate," was released last year.