From the artwork to the etymology of the misspelled album title (which takes in a charming story of a kindergarten kiddy gifting the band the scribble that adorns the front cover,) the Dodos’ sophomore LP builds up inaccurate first impressions of a sloppy, ramshackle and childlike affair. Therefore, those not quite ahead of the curve that is the Dodos’ massive hype will find themselves taken aback by the letter-perfect craft from which the two-piece have moulded this album of most broad and accessible appeal. San Franciscan guitarist, Meric Long, and drummer Logan Kroeber have that very special brand of synergy that paints what may well be an overly-derivative album with more subtle shades and depth than the simplistic cr»che scrawl on the cover might convey.
The reference points for Visiter flow thick and fast. The most cited modern touchstone is Animal Collective’s acid-trip campfire sing-a-long Sung Tongs. (Visiter similarly enjoys the ‘better on drunk’ tag which has plagued the New Yorkers throughout their career.) Long’s busy finger-picked acoustics immediately recall Nick Drake and John Fahey. Kroeber’s organic and utterly essential drum work can vaguely be described as “tribal,” although more accurately as “primal.” Yet the band eschew their most obvious influences with an energy unsurpassed by any of their predecessors, and winning innocence to drive critics to write in unrestrained superlatives about them. Erm…
Yet, for all of the thesaurus-happy hyperbole Visiter is by no means a flawless album. A totally different experience from their renowned live euphoric performances, there is a crucial urgency in Long’s drum-thumping lost in translation. At fourteen tracks long, the LP lacks variety. Some numbers such as Park Song and Ashley feel tagged on, inessential, and drag the album out a little too long. While the album admittedly comes up scant on the new ideas front, those that they have stumbled upon are well worth mining to death. At once sun kissed, charming, and replay-able, Visiter’s shuffling exhibition of Long and Kroeber’s intricate chemistry is a promising and heartening one.
