We hear quite of a bit of Doves influencing their sound, pared down just enough to firmly place the Mercers within the camp of sarcastic pop bands currently flashing chord progressions as juicy as their lyrics’ wit is dry. Austin seems to be an incubator for this "Wit Pop" (can we trademark that?) sound, hatching such masters of the style as Spoon and Okkervil River. more ›

The most powerful aspect of 3-man band Doves is that their sound can be so big it seems to expand the very space in which we’re listening. Kingdom of Rust sonically builds a stadium and then proceeds to meticulously fill it, often building a song so naturally that its growth appears organic. Doves’ sound is so sweeping, so epic that it conjures an un-peopled, reverberating frontier rather than the Manchester setting in which the band developed. more ›