Dr. Dog

After two critically acclaimed homemade albums and tours with My Morning Jacket, Wilco and the Raconteurs over the past five years, Philadelphia, PA's Dr. Dog seemed poised to make a major statement. Although Shame, Shame isn't their big rock record, its ambitious mix of pure pop songwriting and sonic experimentation, courtesy of producer Rob Schnapf, is in line with what modern rock is certainly supposed to sound like. The major problem is that the echoes of the Flaming Lips and MMJ that are all over Shame, Shame are just that: echoes. It sounds as if principal members Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman were deliberately holding something back in the studio and that's no philosophy to have today if you're trying to reinvent the pop music wheel. It's a fine effort, but Dr. Dog just didn't go far enough. And that's a real shame.