Hey there internet it’s me, your old pal The Punk Rock Tourist! Wait, what do you mean we’ve never met before? You don’t remember who I am? This is has got to be one of your classic pranks. Oh, it’s not? My bad, please allow me to introduce myself.

Originally hailing from the distant and sometimes forgotten land of punk rock, I came to KCR in order to share the music of my people and of our neighbors from the lands of ska and hardcore. Two years have passed since I started my mission and now I want to share more rad music from places besides my homeland.

So I decided to start this new blog series called Souvenir of the Week. Every week, I will be bringing back a brand new souvenir from my travels to other distant & forgotten lands. One week it could be an Italian Lounge track and the next it could be an album of Norwegian death metal. You’ll never know what souvenir I’m going to bring back from my travels, but it’s safe to say that it’ll be rad.

Now that I’ve gotten the introduction out of the way lets get to it. This week’s souvenir is an indie folk track called Men by The Dodos.

Hailing from San Francisco, The Dodos are composed of Meric Long (vocals, guitar, and keyboard) and Logan Kroeber (drums & percussion). Long’s skillful/energetic guitar strumming, thoughtful lyrics, and beautiful vocals make for an amazing combination with Kroeber’s powerful percussion. Even though the drums often play a central role in their songs, this track perfectly demonstrates how it does so without completely overshadowing the keyboard, guitar, or vocals. This track also shows how Kroeber’s drums compliment Long’s guitar perfectly, adding that extra oomph that you can really feel.  Long’s acoustic guitar has such a rich sound and how he energetically plays it is key to their great folk sound. It also greatly compliments his thoughtful lyrics and vocals.  It’s as if their music is a jigsaw puzzle, each individual part perfectly fits together to make a beautiful thing. Bad metaphors aside, I think you get my point.

 Men is a great energetic track with heart that displays many of the amazing traits found in The Dodos’ music. But don’t just take my word for it, be sure to give it a listen or two.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!

 

Photo credits:
San Francisco Vintage Postcard via http://postcardman.org/SanFrancisco/misc.htm
California Vintage Postcard via http://www.flickr.com/photos/10411559@N07/3341314348/sizes/o/