With a title like ‘Time To Die’, you might think The Dodos’ third disc – due September 15, 2009 via Frenchkiss Records – is their ‘mature album,’ a deadly serious undertaking punctuated with string sections and synths. Nice try, but you’ve got it all wrong.

While indie rock’s go-to guy, Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Fleet Foxes, The Shins), hopped behind the boards this time, the Dodos’ wildly-percussive style is still centered around two key elements: the punchy percussion of Logan Kroeber and the Fahey-infused finger-picking of frontman Meric Long. Oh sure, you’ll hear a horn blast here and there, but it’s never enough to distract you from the group’s riffs and rolls.

Buy Music:

The Dodos on amazon.com

“I’m glad that we were able to keep things simple on this record,” says Long, “Because when your band gets a little popular, there’s this tendency to say things like, ‘Let’s add an orchestra on this one!’ That works for some people, but it would detract from this band.”

Indeed, and as right as Long may be, ‘Time To Die’ introduces one major addition to the Dodos’ creative core: Keaton Snyder, a 21-year-old music school dropout who plays a mean vibraphone. As Long puts it, “He’s a better musician than Logan and I combined. I don’t even know what’s going on with his music theory ideas half the time.”

On a similar note, Snyder – a classically-trained musician – is constantly learning what ‘being in a band’ entails. In fact, he didn’t even know how to react when a chord was yanked during his Dodos debut. “After the show,” says Long, “he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve never had to plug anything in before.’ It was hilarious.”

All jokes aside, you’d never know Snyder was the Dodos’ third man without looking at the new album’s liner notes. Not because he’s missing in action half the time; he’s just locked in step with Long’s steady-handed strumming and Kroeber’s canon-like beats. That, and Snyder’s actual sound/physical presence isn’t all that different than the visceral elements explored on the Dodos’ previous two albums, 2006’s ‘Beware of the Maniacs’ and the band’s buzz-stirring breakthrough, 2008’s ‘Visiter’.

“The vibraphone is pretty crazy and loud,” says Long, “and if you put it through some effects, you can make it sound like a guitar or synthesizer. It still has that element of something you’re hitting, though, which is central to how Logan and I play our instruments.”

That’s the thing about ‘Time To Die’: It expands the Dodos’ Ginsu-sharp sound without smothering it. It’s not the death of everything you adored about the duo; it’s a rebirth, revealing some serious career standouts (the widescreen payoff of “Small Deaths,” the string-and-drum spasms of “Longform,” the delicate/distorted dynamics of Snyder’s “Troll Nacht” parts) along the way. Which isn’t a surprise when you hear how many months they spent writing the damn thing earlier this year.

“After Visiter, we had a lot of options for which direction to go,” says Long, “But I knew we wanted to make a rock record. Being an acoustic band – primarily, at least – sort of works against this idea, but Phil’s production showcased that side of our band.”

Tracklist For The Dodos’ Time To Die [Frenchkiss Records; Sep 15, 2009]:

01 Small Deaths
02 Longform
03 Fables
04 The Strums
05 This Is A Business
06 Two Medicines
07 Troll Nacht
08 Acorn Factory
09 Time To Die

The Dodos 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

07-01 Landmark – Bergen, Norway
07-02 Revolver – Oslo, Norway
07-03 Tavastia – Helsinki, Finland
07-04 Roskilde Festival – Roskilde
07-09 Phoenix Theater – Toronto, Ontario
07-10 Ottawa Blues Festival – Ottawa, Ontario
07-11 Metropolis Theatre – Montreal, Quebec
07-16 Plage de Rock Festival – St Tropez, France
07-17 Melt Festival – Berlin, Germany
07-18 Dour Festival – Dour, Belgium
07-19 Valkhof Affaire – Nijmegen, NL
08-08 Getty Museum – Los Angeles, California
08-14 KEXP Mural Amphitheater Summer Series – Seattle, Washington
08-29 Outside Lands Festival – San Francisco, California
09-01 Glee Club – Birmingham, UK
09-02 Thekla – Bristol, UK
09-03 Bush Hall – London, UK
09-04 King tut’s – Glasgow, UK
09-05 Ruby Lounge – Manchester, UK
09-07 Maroquinerie – Paris, France
09-08 Botanique Rotunda – Brussels, Belgium
09-10 Molotow – Hamburg, Germany
09-11 Magnet – Berlin, Germany
09-12 Melkweg – Amsterdam, NL
09-13 End of Road Festival – Dorset, UK
10-04 Austin City Limits Music Festival – Austin, Texas

For more information:

The Dodos MySpace
The Dodos Official Website

Baeble Music is proud to announce the release of a new concert video from The Dodos. The band brings boozy, electric-stomp roots to one of NYC’s most unique venues, the Spiegeltent.

Watch the concert:

Watch the full concert at baeblemusic.com

The Dodos on amazon.com

Baeble editor David Pitz said this about the concert: “There was a bit of irony involved when we ventured to NYC’s most carnivalistic of venues, Spiegelworld. The magnificent, wood and canvas tent that sits oh so awesomely on Pier 17 derives its’ name from a Dutch word meaning mirror tent; an appropriate reference as it’s a place plump full of plenty of aesthetic allusion and deception. But The Dodos, the band who sold out the venue, are none of that. Theirs is a craft that offers absolutely nothing to hide behind. Theirs is a brand of boozy, electric roots that’s elemental, yet completely unique unto them.

Combining Meric Long’s whiplash strokes on a couple of visibly bullied, acoustic guitars, Logan Kroeber’s explosive barrage of stout and strong percussive rhythms – themselves bashed out on drums that most closely resemble a set of marching quads, and newcomer Joe Haener’s ornamental fills of swelling vibraphone (plus the occasion thwack! on a metal garbage can), The Dodos set power and pulse to Long’s beseeching vocal melodies. The results are powerhouse highlights like “Red and Purple”, “Fools”, and “Jodi”"

The Dodos November 2008 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Nov 13 2008 – Poudriere/Belfort, France Belfort
Nov 14 2008 – Point Ephemere/Paris w/The Ruby Suns Paris
Nov 15 2008 – Le Cabaret Electric/Le Havre, France w/The Ruby Suns Le Havre
Nov 17 2008 – Nachtleben/Frankfurt w/The Ruby Suns Frankfurt
Nov 18 2008 – Headcrash/Hamburg w/The Ruby Suns Hamburg
Nov 19 2008 – Voxhall/Aarhus w/The Ruby Suns Aarhus
Nov 20 2008 – Loppen/Copenhagen w/The Ruby Suns Copenhagen
Nov 21 2008 – Knaack/Berlin w/The Ruby Suns Berlin
Nov 22 2008 – Akropolis/Prague w/The Ruby Suns Prague
Nov 23 2008 – 59-1/Munich w/The Ruby Suns Munich
Nov 24 2008 – Chelsea/Vienna w/The Ruby Suns Vienna
Nov 25 2008 – Stalker/Padova w/The Ruby Suns Padova
Nov 26 2008 – Casa 139/Milan w/The Ruby Suns Milan
Nov 27 2008 – ISC/Bern w/Jennifer Gentle Bern
Nov 28 2008 – Le Romandie/Lausanne w/Jennifer Gentle Lausanne
Nov 29 2008 – Luxor/Cologne w/Jennifer Gentle Cologne
Nov 30 2008 – Vera/Groningen w/Jennifer Gentle Groningen

About Baeble Music

Baeble Music is an online destination for free live music. Founded in 2006, Baeble lays claim to an ever growing library of full-length concerts from today’s hottest artists, enabling those from outside the largest markets to share in a unique live music experience of their favorite emerging bands. We bring to our loyal audience artists that we think are hot and emerging and then stream their full-length concerts for free. We offer free single song downloads from each concert on our Baeble Podcast on every concert page. As well, we offer users the option to purchase full concert DVDs and high quality downloads directly from our site, or through our retail partners, Amazon and Insound.

Want to go to the front row of your favorite shows? Watch as many free live concerts as you want and then view pictures from the show in our professionally shot photo albums. Deepen your experience through our expert insight into the Indie music scene including blog posts, feature articles, interviews and album and concert reviews. Top off your Baeble experience with Free Mp3 downloads from the Baeble Blog.

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The Dodos MySpace

The Dodos Official Website