Dongs Of Sevotion

Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[Bill Callahan's] best yet." Alternative Press - 3 out of 5 - "...Callahan displays a certain swagger that makes this his first album of interest to those without suicidal impulses." Melody Maker - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Bill Callahan unfolds his croaking moan to startling effect....If you fancy spending an hour staring out the window, watching steam rise from chimneys...much of DOS would be a perfect accompaniment..." Magnet - "...He's recording with member of Tortoise and Isotope 217, crooning over ersatz '70s soul. But the subject matter remains the same: the unwholesome stains on the wrappings of the human soul....all solidly done." Mojo - "...Bill Callahan actually sounds chipper. Must be the sex....there is familiar, black Smog turf [and there is the] less familiar [in] the sturdy rhythms, muscle-flexing playing, robust vocals, The Hard Road's quasi-metal guitar, [and] Justice Aversion's electro-disco beat..." NME - 8 out of 10 - "...The deadpan Wednesday Addams of alt-rock....He's the grinning gravedigger, the singing mortician....The world is wonderful and terrifying, beautiful and malicious. It's all the better, and worse, for having Smog in it." NME - Ranked #27 in NME's "Top 50 Albums Of The Year".

After a decade as one of indie rock's most consistent, versatile artists, Smog's ninth album catalogs the sounds and emotions that Bill Callahan explored on previous albums. Dongs of Sevotion borrows Wild Love's chamber rock arrangements, Red Apple Falls' droning folk, The Doctor Came at Dawn's painful honesty, Knock Knock's sardonic humor, and even nods to Burning Kingdom's album artwork. While these eclectic influences could have had scattered results, Dongs of Sevotion is remarkably spare and focused; over half the album is just Callahan on vocals and guitar and/or piano, with Tortoise's John McEntire on drums. Not surprisingly, the starker songs are the most lyrically loaded. On the coming-of-age ballad "Nineteen," Callahan laments, "My movements were slow/She didn't even know/What she was taking away," and on "Devotion," he notes, "There are some terrible gossips in this town/With jaws like vices and eyes like drains." "Easily Led" and "Distance" are musically and emotionally similar, tending to blend together in the middle of the album. However, Dongs begins with "Justice Aversion," a survival-of-the-fittest tale set to icy, detached synths, and "Dress Sexy at My Funeral," a warm, sensual recounting of a man's final wishes: "Tell them about the time we did it with fireworks above us" -- a one-two punch that captures the album's range. "Bloodflow" mixes a Jew's harp, cheerleaders (the "Dongettes," natch), and a galloping beat, and rhymes "tete-a-tete" with "machete," distilling the album's twists and turns. But Callahan saves the best for last: "Permanent Smile" a song of devotion that, with its echoing drums and rippling piano loop, sounds like a collaboration between Phil Spector and Philip Glass. It's this reverence and irreverence that makes Smog so enduring, and Dongs of Sevotion another strong album. ~ Heather Phares|