Dr. Dog @ Siren Festival

Dr. Dog are one of the handful of bands I've been wanting to see for a while, so I got a little taste of the live act during the festival. While they are based out of Philadelphia, their music is more akin to southern rock, with some lively bouncy pop mixed in there to make their sound more unique. I've mentioned this before that the trend this year are bands that have been around for a while are finally getting recognized and making their best music now (check Of Montreal, !!!). You can add Dr. Dog to that list with We All Belong, their third album.

Far from being experimental, the music on the album has a looseness to it -- willing to take chances with psychedelic, Beatlesque harmonies and odd electronic flourish. At the same time, the band pays tribute for their love of classic rock with such crowd pleasures as "Alaska" and "Old News." It's no mistake that My Morning Jacket and The Strokes took them on tour, they are never boring and will always give you something to hum along to.

With guys on stage have varying degree of facial hair, they are truly inspired players. They look like a jam band, but their set was pretty tight without much fluff. Dr. Dog was the one band of the day who stood out to me as different from the rest because of their more southern rock tendencies. Mind you, you shouldn't pigeon hole them to the genre, since they can easily stand up to The Shins of the world.

They'll be adding Wilco to their list of tour mates this year. That's right, make the Philly people proud. Check out the t-shirt the drummer was wearing, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I couldn't pull off wearing a retro shirt like that.