Dos' understated creative partnership has lasted so long that any new album is almost an unexpected pleasure; Kira Roessler and
Mike Watt's recorded work is almost overshadowed both by their various live performances and their individual efforts in turn (especially
Watt, who always seems to be doing ten things at once).
Dos y Dos, the duo's fourth album in 25 years and their first new one in 17, finds the two continuing to make their mark with the deftly simple approach of two electric basses and Roessler's occasional vocal a minimal, eternally engaging approach to a song. The easy way in which hooks are traded off between the two performers, the melodic leads played steadily and sweetly with instruments played non-traditionally, has been a part of the band since the start, but there's a sense that the two players have settled into a place where all their unrecorded work slowly built up over a decade and has come together just so. "Uncle Mike" has a quick, almost quizzical tone that's fun to hear as the two players throw in a little hard funk in between their calmer interactions, building to a series of rising notes and a gentle conclusion. When Roessler's voice steps out, the feeling is conversational but still sung, a series of considerations and observations.
Watt's additional vocal on "Make Her Me" adds a little theatrical threat to the unsettling scenario of personal and physical shaping, while Roessler's lovely take on
Selena's "No Me Queda Mas" is another unexpected pleasure, her most to-the-fore and romantic performance on the album and an overall highlight. A nice touch is a pack of distant and seemingly happy dogs on "Number Eight" adding a little swirling unexpectedness to the sweet feeling of the main parts; it could almost be an understated theme song for a documentary series on Animal Planet. ~ Ned Raggett