No Color

In what is best described as aggressive folk, the Dodos focus on galloping, intricate drum patterns, sudden tempo changes, and slyly shifting guitar parts on their adventurous fourth release. For No Color, the trio of Meric Long (guitar, piano, vocals), Logan Kroeber (drums), and Keaton Snyder (vibraphone, percussion) is joined by Neko Case who adds backing vocals on five of the tracks and whose contributions are understated yet important, particularly on “Sleep” and “Don’t Try and Hide It.” At its best, the album straddles a carefully crafted line between frenetic power and delicacy, as if one false move could steer Kroeber’s crisp polyrhythms into head-on collisions that would stop all momentum. Maintaining a breathless pace that rarely lets up, dynamic standouts “Black Night,” “Going Under,” “Good,” and “Companions” are textured with strings and Long’s impressive guitar playing, which alternates between manic finger-picking and complicated strumming. Vigorous and brisk, No Color is anything but.