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Le Diamant Brut: ACL Edition w/ Dr. Dog & Flogging Molly
What’s the Deal: According to Dr. Dog, they’re interested in “three-part harmonies, the out-of-doors, hoagies, vegetables and diminished chords.” And, that’s not a bad way to describe them. They’re a slightly eccentric Philadelphia five-piece who play music that’s a little folk, psychedelic, pop, soul, bluegrass and other. The band, all with nicknames like Taxi, Trouble and Tables, have been fortunate to be considered a band’s band by many, helping land them tours with groups like My Morning Jacket, Wilco, The Black Keys, The Cave Singers, and many more fairly early on. With a handful of releases tucked under their collective wing since 2001, the band is set to release another record in early 2010 on Anti- Records.
Dr. Dog is heavily influenced by 60s era pop rock groups, and you can really feel the deep and pervasive harmonies that help bring out comparisons to The Beatles and The Beach Boys throughout the majority of their tunes. Fate’s “My Friend” has a meaty chorus with layered harmony alongside sleigh bells, organ and your conventional rock elements as the song ebbs and flows, rises and falls, and ultimately ends in the sound of a train pulling away.
Something Interesting: Friday at 3:30pm you’ll have to choose between Dr. Dog, who’s playing the Dell stage, The Walkmen, Poi Dog Pondering, Todd Snider and Lunch Money, all battling for your attention.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Hang On” and “The Ark”
What’s the Deal: When it comes to Celtic punk bands like Flogging Molly, The Pogues and Dropkick Murphys, there’s little space for middle ground. It’s kind of like opera in that you’ll either love it or hate it. You’re either way into the mix of distortion and punk rock comradery with fiddle, mandolin, tin whistle and uilleann pipes or it does absolutely nothing for you. Flogging Molly has been around since 1997 and is on their fourth album, Float, but there are surely still plenty of clover-loving ACL festival-goers ignorant to the band yet ripe for the converting.
Many of the group’s songs have appeared in films and television shows like “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, “Weeds”, “Bones” and even “Gilmore Girls”. One of their fan favorites, “Drunken Lullabies”, was used in “Big Brother 9” as a wake-up song, which makes sense being that it’s a stomper. Fiddle and banjo meet with a rowdy beat, fuzzy guitars, and loud, altogether choruses with an Irish accent on top. “Requiem for a Dying Song”, off their latest, landed at #35 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts with an irresistible chorus backed by plenty of Celtic punk energy that’s good for the pub or the music hall.
Something Interesting: Flogging Molly with take the AMD stage Saturday at 4:00pm between !!! and Mos Def.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “You Won’t Make a Fool Out of Me” and “The Worst Day Since Yesterday”
