Fate (Dr. Dog album)

Fate is the fifth album by Philadelphia indie rock band Dr. Dog. It was released on July 22, 2008. The album introduces some new studio elements to their established indie rock sound.^[1]

Fate
Studio album by Dr. Dog
Released	July 22, 2008
Genre	Indie rock, Americana, neo-psychedelia, chamber pop
Length	44:15
Label	Park the Van
Dr. Dog chronology
Passed Away, Vol. 1 (2008) Fate (2008) Shame, Shame (2010)

Background

Pre-orders from the album, depending on where it was pre-ordered, included signed CD art, a signed or unsigned 7" with two new songs ('The Dearly Departed' and 'Is It Worth My Time'), stickers, posters, t-shirts, and the album on vinyl.^{[citation needed]}

The song "My Friend" was featured in trailers for the Judd Apatow film Funny People.^[2]

Album cover

The cover is a picture of a painting with the outlines sewn on done by Chicago native Ken Ellis. It was directly inspired by a picture of ill-fated outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde.^[3] When the members of Dr. Dog saw the painting at Chicago's Rainbo Club, where Ellis bartended, they quickly bought it from him.^[4] They then used it as the album cover because they thought it fit with the general aesthetic of the album.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk.net	(88%) ^[5]
Allmusic	^[6]
Billboard	(Positive) ^[7]
Entertainment Weekly	(A-) ^[8]
Filter	(93%)
Rolling Stone	^[9]
Pitchfork Media	(5.5/10)^[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dr. Dog

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Breeze"	3:59
2.	"Hang On"	4:01
3.	"The Old Days"	3:41
4.	"Army of Ancients"	4:05
5.	"The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer"	3:29
6.	"The Ark"	3:37
7.	"From"	4:39
8.	"100 Years"	4:06
9.	"Uncovering the Old"	3:21
10.	"The Beach"	3:41
11.	"My Friend"	5:36
Total length:		44:15

Bonus tracks on Japanese CD version

No.	Title	Length
12.	"The Dearly Departed"	3:00
13.	"Is It Worth My Time?"	3:56

Bonus tracks on iTunes version

No.	Title	Length
12.	"The Dearly Departed"	3:14
13.	"Drop Me Off"	4:03
14.	"From (alternate version)"	5:10

Personnel

Dr. Dog is:

• Toby "Tables" Leaman - vocals, bass, upright bass
• Scott "Taxi" McMicken - vocals, lead guitar, piano
• Frank "Thanks" McElroy - rhythm guitar, vocals
• Zach "Text" Miller - keyboards, piano, guitar
• Juston "Triumph" Stens - drums, percussion, vocals

Additional Musicians:

• Danny Scofield - saxophones
• Janka Perniss - violin
• Tommy Bindle - percussion
• Steve Duffy - trombone
• Kimbal Brown - trumpet
• John Pettit - trumpet
• Heather Fortune - flute
• Laura Foxx - clarinet
• Victoria Baltimore - cello
• Megan Smith - oboe
• Eliza Jones - vocals

Additional Production:

• Brendan Cooney - string and horn arrangements
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Ken Ellis – paintings
• Bill Moriarty – mixing
• T. William Moriarty – production coordination
• Kyle Pulley – production assistant, mixing assistant

References

1. The Fader Dr. Dog Review, thefader.com, gives a description of Dr. Dogs performance, retrieved 30 May 2008.
2. Funny People Trailer on YouTube, TV Spot featuring Dr. Dog's "My Friend".
3. Bonnie and Clyde Photo, Photo of Bonnie and Clyde that inspired the cover of Fate.
4. Dr. Dog backstage interview at Lollapalooza 2008 on YouTube
5. "Dr. Dog - Fate - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2012-09-12.
6. Sean Westergaard (2008-07-22). "Fate - Dr. Dog | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-06-10.
7. [1] August 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
8. Leah Greenblatt (2008-07-18). "Fate Review". EW.com. Retrieved 2012-09-12.
9. [2] March 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
10. [3] October 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine