The Dodos

Of course I discover this band one week after they’ve come and gone from Reno’s XOXO club. The Dodos take the Mississippi John Hurt-inspired fingerpicking of songwriter/guitarist Meric Long, then add an incessant bass drum and a healthy smattering of electronic atmospherics. It’s as though Leadbelly’s taken a duet with The Shins. Without drummer Logan Kroeber, this would be a sweet, folksy, Elliot Smith-ish album of prosaic storytelling and heart-on-a-platter emotion. With him, it’s all that with an almost tribal dimension of intensity and experimental percussion. The delta meets indie rock with this San Francisco-based band. Let’s hope they find their way back to Reno.