Live At A Flamingo Hotel is the newest record from Dr. Dog, the Pennsylvania based group with a hard-to-define pop sound. The band’s first official live release is a sort of “concept” album; the idea is that, “Flamingo Hotel” is a state of mind, rather than an actual venue. It’s the state of being you share with a crowd being at a concert. 

“It doesn’t matter if you see us in Chicago or L.A. or Memphis, we’re going to bring it wherever we are,” explains Toby Leaman, singer and bassist for the group. To that end, the band chose the tracks from a 20-date span of shows from their 2013 tour, picking the performances they felt best showcased their live sound. 

The album opens with “These Days,” a bouncy, upbeat tune which pleases with mumbled vocals and loose easy guitar play which inviting and fun. “That Old Black Hole” is stomping and brash, with warm, relaxed harmonies in the choruses, and horsey shouts for the verses. 

“Heart It Races” brings a more lush harmony sound, and a warm vintage fuzz from the guitars. The interplay between three voices and two guitars all at once is impressive and compelling. It’s hard not to bob your head along to this!

“How Long Must I Wait” cools things down a bit, with an echo-y, hard blues vibe. “The Beach” immediately brings the weird, sounding like a blues band funeral march. There’s a a great 60’s feel to this, with a natural rawness and power. The guitar solo is simple, but intense and fitting. 

A more spacious texture is created going into “The Truth.” There’s a feeling of surreal lightness, almost a feeling of floating, and a surprising level of delicateness. “Too Weak To Ramble” is anthemic, compelling, the vocals pleading, and the guitars aching. There’s a feeling here like listening to a great take of “Peggy-O” from the Grateful Dead. 

“Say Ahh” is an oddball tune, feeling a bit like lounge music for much of the time, from the bands first album, 2002’s Toothbrush. With “Jackie Wants A Black Eye,” the rich harmonies and pleasingly joyous sound is back. The soaring vocals are spot on, and the lyrics poignant. “Stranger” is solid, but somehow less compelling than everything else so far. Not bad, by any means, just lacking in the energy seen to this point. 

“Heavy Light” could almost pass for a My Morning Jacket song. It’s quirky and offbeat, and just the right amount of psychedelic and folky. It proved to be a great vehicle for some jamming, building up to a huge vocal crescendo. “Worst Trip” delves deeper into the world of psychedelic rock, with a firm blues core. There’s something very Beatles-y to this that fits so very well. 

Taking things back down is “Ain’t It Strange,” a fantastic, classic 60’s style love song, backup harmonies and all. This is absolutely a highlight of the album. Keeping the same 60’s pop meets psychedelic blues band, “Shame, Shame” is a lilting, trippy song of love and loss, framed by lovely vocals and dancing guitars. Another powerhouse, big time anthem ending here, harmony guitar lead and all. 

“County Line” is a more straight ahead folk tune, perhaps a bit dull compared to much of the rest of the album so far. “Shadow People” sounds tired, and was likely a late set tune in the show it was taken from. It’s too bad, because this is a great tune, but is just too sloppy here. “Broken Heart” suffers somewhat from the same tired sound, but not to the same extent, and is still a vehicle for some solid playing and nice vocal harmony. 

“The Rabbit, The Bat, & The Reindeer” is a return to the tight playing of earlier tracks, and highlights again the bands ability to intertwine 3 voices and 2 guitars without ever seeming to get them tangled. The final track, “Lonesome,” is a sloppy, but still entertaining country fired romp, featuring slide guitar prominently, mostly for the better. The song is drawn out and jammed a bit, giving a sense of closure at the end. 

Live At A Flamingo Hotel is, overall, an enjoyable listening experience, but a very long one. There is a good amount of bloat here that could’ve been cut down on. Cutting out a few of the tracks would have greatly benefited the concept as a whole, and made for a much more enjoyable listening experience. That said, the album as is stands is absolutely worth checking out, as the majority of the tunes are spot on, and well worth a listen.