No Color (Amazon MP3 Exclusive)

The Dodos | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: March 15, 2011
• Label: Frenchkiss Records
• Copyright: (c) 2011 Frenchkiss Records
• Total Length: 46:25
• Genres:
  • Rock
• ASIN: B004MGTMDE
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,657 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fall in Love May 26, 2011

By Tony Michale Estrada

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Good albums are very hard to come by these days, but as a music listener, this is what I'm after. I want to fall in love with an album, from beginning to end. While, yes, there may be some weaker points along the way, isn't that a reflection of life?

I first saw The Dodos when they opened for The New Pornographers last summer. I crushed hard. Their energy and simplicity moved me, even when I had never heard one their songs.

After outplaying the P.J. Harvey album (80 times according to iTunes), I went on another quest for the perfect album experience. I noticed the Dodos No Color artwork and downloaded it immediately. It took some courting, but for some reason, I couldn't stop revisiting. The second half of the album is lighter and tougher to impress, but after four listens, I was hooked on the entire experience. You might find the drumming a bit intense in the beginning, but once the melodies and lyrics seep into your brain, you're going to keep coming back for more.

The high-energy opener "Black Night" leads into a more subtle yet intricate "Going Under", which morphs by the end into a pleasing spectacle. The earnestness in Meric Long's voice is sweetly painful on this song.

Dance and rock out to my favorite track "Good," which transforms so easily into the folksy freakpop of "Sleep" and "Don't Try to Hide It", both featuring backup vocals from Neko Case. Her voice works well here, and the addition of the strings and layering of voices on the former will haunt you.

"When Will You Go" again features some fantastic endearing emotional vocals from Long, yet by the end of the song he seems to lose his intensity, which begs the question, did he stop caring? "Companions" comes next. While the lyrics are fantastic, "I know you did your talking with me as a trophy head," I found these last two songs the weakest moments on the album, but I think they're good breaks because "Companions" and "Don't Stop" wrap up the album nicely with lingering melodies, fantastic guitar work, and lyrics that move.

Spend the small fee and give it a couple of spins. I'm 100% sure you won't be disappointed.

4.0 out of 5 stars Back, with some color July 10, 2011

By M. Buisman

Format:Audio CD

The Dodos' new album is just nine songs long, perhaps a result of the slightly disappointing previous album. Fortunately the good elements have remained: the strange time signatures and the percussion like strumming of Meric Long. Opener and single "Black Night" is a good example of the newer, louder style. Long's singing is still mediocre at best bur the vocal melodies make up for a lot. They were also helped this time by Neko Case who lends here remarkable vocal talent to a few of the songs, lifting them up and giving a nice extra color. Songs that are already dominated by some great hooks, making you remember at least part of the song after only a few plays.
The new sound doesn't always work live, where they can become too loud. It works on this album: The Dodos are back on track.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My god, where has this band been hiding?? July 31, 2012

By Bryant Phillips

Format:Audio CD

So random story: heard Black Night while working at REI. Thought it was the only good song on their radio station that I hadn't already heard. Shazamed it. Previewed the album. Bought the album before I was even done previewing all the tracks, and I'm now an addict. Why have all the indie stations not just fallen head over heals in love with this band?! I listen to them regularly and haven't once heard a track from The Dodos, and this is their best album by far.

The first thing that hits you is the energy level. The drummer is a maniac with that thoroughly unique style of his, and the singer croons like a folk rocker but plays guitar like his soul is on fire. The second thing is the professionalism of these songs. They build and they shift and throw you surprises to keep you guessing, rarely being content to play like a normal song with verse/chorus/verse, etc. I love how When Will You Go begins soothing and meandering, and bursts into full life by the end. This band incorporates elements of Explosions in the Sky with their "movements," but the sound is some sort of wild mash-up between The Shins, The Strokes, and Phoenix, yet unlike any of those directly. It's like nothing I've ever heard, and I'm so hooked.