DR. DOG - Fate

Long the flagship band (or at least the best-known) of the Park The Van roster, Dr. Dog may be wild-eyed, bearded and keyboard-centred like fellow Philadelphians Man Man, but with a gruffness much more subdued, popping up more in the Let It Be-like howls of co-lead singer Toby Leaman than any sort of Waits-y circus barks. Confident from the potentially hubristic title on down, co-founder Scott McMicken even goes so far as to call Fate "the first true Dr. Dog record"; his chirpier vocal turns, perfected on mid-album ballad "From", offset Leaman's brazen wails, best heard on "Army Of Ancients".