Doctor Came at Dawn

Smog | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 10, 1996)
• Original Release Date: September 24, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B0000019QP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,877 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nothing in Smog's previous output suggests the austere beauty presented here. Previously, Bill Callahan (who for all intents and purposes is Smog) recorded half-finished vignettes that were held down by an excess of low-fi studio mud. Here, he slows everything down to a trickle (except "Somewhere in the Night" which positively rollicks along by comparison) and the leaky faucet of this doom seems to be unfixable. The deadpan basso-profundo delivery gets deeper over time as the nails of failure from each relationship are hammered in. The opener is "You Moved In" and rests as a bad omen. By the time of "All Your Women Things," Callahan is constructing a dolly from his ex-girlfriend's accouterments. Spooky. --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smog's Sad Epic, March 23, 2000

By 

Ted "adjustment" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Came at Dawn (Audio CD)

Back in the day when Smog gathered clutter and clash in JULIUS CAESAR, not only would I never suspect the beauty and sound of DOCTOR CAME AT DAWN, but even when first listening to it, did I ever suspect that this would wind up one of my favorites of all time. One of the saddest epics, if not THE, of the 90s, DOCTOR walks around thoroughly modern scenes of loss and desolation. Anyone who has ever experienced the mating ritual of the 90s, you get together and because you both can't make rent on a nice place alone, you shack up, and not long after, it all falls apart. You will find a friend in this album. Starting with this theme in the opening track, YOU MOVED IN, Smog looks at the world through different pairs of the saddest eyes but never wallows in the dirt. I don't think Smog has done anything close to this since. Others disagree and wave off this album as too depressing, more into the last couple of records (the mediocre RED APPLE FALLS and KNOCK KNOCK) but to me, those albums reminds me of many singer/songwriters coming out in the late 60s and 70s. Once you get into the mid-70s, these singers who had such great songs and simple productions on their early albums, start to try and do different things with each song on their later records and forget that they are making an album (ALBUM--like collection). That lap steel on the recent ventures, for instance, what is that? Cash in on the Palace/alterna-country thang? DOCTOR is simply perfect and one of the best that the 90s had to offer--saying alot as it was a great decade for music--as usual. Moments created in SPREAD YOUR BLOODY WINGS and CARMELITE LIGHT are so unique sound and lyric-wise. SPREAD YOUR BLOODY WINGS is like a surrealist poem! And I'm not saying that lightly! To sum it up, Smog captures the stupidity and sadness of 20-something youth in the 90s.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pain and Suffering Never Felt This Good, May 22, 2003

By 

Timothy Caulfield (Upland, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Came at Dawn (Audio CD)

Bill Callahan has created a masterpiece that is really beyond words. All I can say is that if you've recently had your heart torn out and stepped on with a pair of soccer cleats, THIS is the album for you. Tenderness and nostalgia, bitterness and despair, Doctor Came At Dawn is frighteningly accurate in its depiction of a breakup you can only relate to. Be prepared to reach for the Kleenex... Smog you're a genius.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, November 16, 2002

By 

happyapple - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Doctor Came at Dawn (Audio CD)

I will agree that Luke's review is ridiculous. BUT... this album is not quite as great as everyone says. Bill Callahan's guitar is always out of tune (this is especially apparent with doubled guitar passages), and all of the playing is very sloppy. It's almost as if Callahan is making up the music as he goes along, and is unsure of what note he's going to play until it's too late. This doesn't hurt all of the tracks, though. It gives a few of them the feeling of floating in and out of water (if you happen to be looking at the album cover while listening).
Those complaints aside, the songs on this CD are mostly very good. Callahan's simple, repetive, dark, and melancholy chord changes provide a perfect backing to his droning baritone voice. The lyrics are equally as dark and melancholy, and seem quite mysterious as well. It's as if they paint pictures of emotions (mainly sadness) rather than dealing with them in any direct sense. Most of the time, you don't really know what Callahan is talking about, but you feel his emotions.
"Doctor Came At Dawn" is Smog's darkest release to date. Highlights include "You Moved In", "Spread Your Bloody Wings", and "All Your Women Things". Personally, I prefer Callahan's partner Cindy Dall, Mark Eitzel, Ida, Red House Painters, Idaho, or Dakota Suite over Smog in the sadcore genre. But if you are a fan of lo-fi sadcore, this is still good stuff.