DocFell & Co. – Frequencies And Vibrations

DocFell & Co. – Frequencies And Vibrations – Album Review

That’s a pretty steady clip there DocFell & Co. – Frequencies And Vibrations is the 5^th studio album from the band in about nine years or so…a mighty impressive average of 1.8 years for every record, nice work.

Even if “Summer’s Gone,” and I’m writing this review in winter, you can still feel the warmth in the recording of this first track on DocFell & Co.’s new album.  Hey…before you get on me about making weather references here today, make sure you have a listen to this track so you know I’m not alone in that – DocFell & Co. are making plenty of their own in this opening song of theirs as well.  “Love letter return to sender, “Summer’s Gone” and I’m headed for the fall,” for example…you know…I’m just following their lead y’all.  You can hear the professionalism in a track like this…whether it’s in the songwriting, the performance, or the overall production, “Summer’s Gone” speaks strongly on behalf of what DocFell & Co. create and how they go about doin’ their thang.  Is it my thang?  I mean…no…not really…Americana/Country is rarely the genre I go running to, if ever…but I can hear the quality in what this band is creating collectively, and the high level of thought put into a song like “Summer’s Gone.”

Besides, it ain’t like I don’t have experience with every kind of music you’ll find under the sun, even if it’s not the first thing I’m gonna listen to.  I call things like I call’em, and I’ve always maintained that if you’re doin’ what you’re doin’ with tangible heart & noticeable passion, I’m probably in your corner.  You can’t listen to a track like “Dandelions” and not appreciate how true it is to the style of sound that DocFell & Co. are aiming for…I mean, this is right smack in the middle of Americana/Country as far as I can tell.  Love the guitar, love the pedal steel, love the banjo…bass & drums are on-point…it’s sung well…I mean, anytime you’re leaving the court of public opinion armed with only their personal taste as the main objection, you’re winning the argument as far as I can tell.  “Dandelions” makes it pretty darn clear that this band has no problem at all executing consistently like the professionals they’ve become throughout their years playing music, and I don’t think it’ll come as much of a surprise to those out there that have stuck with them since 2016 that they’re not out here makin’ any rookie mistakes.  DocFell & Co. is quite the well-oiled machine at this point in their career, and songs like “Dandelions” highlight how they are able to make music at a very high level that could easily compete with the peers within their genre.

Where I’m feeling like they’ve still got some room to evolve and grow, is mainly within the identity of their sound.  There’s no doubt that a track like “Knock Me Over Moses” sounds great – it does!  And so too do the rest of the songs surrounding it for that matter – but what I’m talkin’ about, specifically, is whether or not we’re hearing things that we can tag directly to DocFell & Co. and not mistake what we hear for anything else…and I’m not quite sure that’s where they’re at just yet.  So there’s risk there, of course…you want to establish that identity that says this is a DocFell & Co. song and couldn’t possibly be anybody else, and you want to make sure that the songs themselves are about as memorable as that too.  I felt like as far as the material was concerned, “Knock Me Over Moses” might have a bit more of a memorable quality to it…it leans a little hard on the spaghetti western vibes, but at the same time, I feel like I’d probably remember this song long after I’ve moved on from listening to Frequencies And Vibrations and onto whatever comes next for me throughout 2025.  So that’s a step in the right direction for sure, and that’s largely because there’s vibrant personality in the music, a lively energy to its melody, and catchy hooks that I think will have no real problem at all holding up throughout the years to follow.

Having said all that, as I’ve often said around these parts, there ain’t nothing wrong with simply creating a flawless tune either, and this album is essentially stocked full of those – there’s no reason not to be immensely proud of that.  Identity is something that can elude even the best of the best for their entire career, and even though I feel like that’s a super important thing to establish yourself & set your music apart from the rest of what’s out there, I recognize that it’s not something everyone achieves, or even aims for.  So when I hear a song like “Day Old Coffee” that certainly has a ton of elements that would be similar to the ingredients of a whole bunch of other tunes out there, or the other tracks that have come before it in this lineup for that matter, I’m still willing to meet a band like DocFell & Co. at the halfway mark and readily acknowledge that they do what they do very, very well.  “Day Old Coffee” shows us what is essentially a tried, tested, and true style of songwriting that’s genuinely timeless, and they play it to its maximum potential…honestly, that’s really all you can ever hope to receive as a listener.  The gentle sway it has, the story it tells, the imagery it has in the lyricism…all that kinda stuff is sure to please the longstanding fans of Americana/Country music.  DocFell & Co. have read the handbook on how to go about doin’ it right, and they faithfully execute the sound to a tee on a song like “Day Old Coffee,” 100%.

“Texarkana” sounded the most interesting to me of the first half of the record…I like the extra details in the production and the depth in the recording.  I’m not here to tell ya that it’s setting the world on fire with originality, but I do like the seriousness you’ll hear in the mood & atmosphere this track has…that’s where it scores the biggest win to me.  It allows DocFell & Co. to really set the stage for the storyline type of song that “Texarkana” contains, and again, they show some real cleverness in their lyrical imagery content.  I’m not entirely loving the back & forth pattern in the lead guitar rhythm, but all the stuff surrounding it, be it the pedal steel or the few spots of flexing a bit of solo instrumentation show off a couple of significant highlights as well.  Vocally, I felt like “Texarkana” also revealed one of the strongest performances from the microphone, adding a nice layer of grizzled seen-it-all wisdom to go along with the details in the plotline.  Musically, it’s not a track that’s out to recreate the wheel, and that’s fine…again, I don’t think there’s ever gonna be an issue with the seamless way that DocFell & Co. play their tunes, and the lyrical aspect of “Texarkana” combined with its demeanor worked really well.

I also freakin’ LOVED the instrumentation & melody on the way into “Waterloo” as well – it’s absolutely GORGEOUS to listen to.  It’s the kind of spellbinding sound that makes a critic like me wanna turn my head away from anything else that might not quite measure up and look the other way for a moment.  I really like the way the backing vocals come in to support the lead on “Waterloo” as well, but in general, I felt like the vocals were stellar all the way through this track and got right to the heart of the melody in the songwriting.  I dig the way things are spaced out within this recording as well…you’ve got your pedal steel drifting through the background, the banjo set smartly just a bit to the side…you get the idea – I like the way they’ve approached this recording, because there’s actually quite a bit going on inside this delicate gem, and you get to hear all of it with crystal clarity as a result of the choices they’ve made.  It’s the kind of thing that can make all the difference in the world to certain tunes, and I felt like the aspects of the production here really helped turn a good tune into a great one – “Waterloo” sounds as special as it was intended to.  I think it’ll be one of the tracks that is most universally loved by everyone listening.

Yikes…I’m gonna get lambasted here, because DocFell & Co. go sliding right into one of the biggest gaps in my musical knowledge on this next tune.  What I know about John Prine wouldn’t be able to even fill a single page unfortunately…and as of the time in writing this very review here, I already know more about DocFell & Co. than I do about the legendary Country-Folk artist.  I did the next best thing I could – I married a wonderful woman who thankfully knows a bit about all the many people, places, and things I don’t know – and she grew up on Prine…but alas, she’s not writing this review and you’re stuck with me.  In any event, we’ve still got some things in common…as I listened to “The John Prine Song,” I learned that DocFell & Co. have a love for ice-cold Root Beer and garden parties that last all night long – and hell, I’ve got love for those things too!  Plus, I’m always a fan when someone can teach me something, and up until listening to this tune, I had no idea that “muscadine” was even a word!  I mean, heck, it’s STILL setting off the alarms in Microsoft Word here, but in the world according to the internet, it’s accepted – so thank you DocFell & Co., I appreciate you teachin’ me some stuff through your lyrics on “The John Prine Song.”  I have no idea what’s up with the very ending of this track, so I’m gonna take that as some kind of Prine thing that I should know something about but clearly don’t…and hopefully those of you in the know will be able to appreciate what nearly feels like a complete collapse at the end to be symbolic of something much more tributary, as intended with “The John Prine Song.”  Anyhow.  For those of you out there that celebrate the icon’s catalog of tunes, this Bud’s Root Beer’s for you; turn it on up & enjoy.

As the album starts to wind itself up, “Tears In Texas” will likely stand out to listeners, largely because of the beginning instrumentation being so decidedly different than the rest of what’s on the record.  What do they call that in the context of Country music – is that the ol’ squeezebox, or is that still an accordion like it would be to the rest of us outside of the genre?  I guess it don’t matter too much…call it whatever you like, I dig the sound of it and I’m sure many of you out there will too.  Look…I feel like DocFell & Co. had a strong enough start to this album, but I think I ended up feeling like the main strengths of the album existed from about “Texarkana” on forward, making the second-half of Frequencies And Vibrations a bit stronger, in my personal opinion.  Maybe I’m just acclimated to the sound now…that could be the case…but I think I’d rather give DocFell & Co. the credit they deserve for writing what seems to be more compelling material and engaging melodies to fuel the set-list in its second-half.  Who knows – maybe there are people out there that’ll feel the same way I do about this record…time will tell.  I can tell you this with certainty though – DocFell & Co. knocked it outta the park when it came to the main hooks on “Tears In Texas” – I love how the vocal melody came out in that part, and to be truthful with ya, I felt like the verses were a very close rival for my affections as well.  All-in-all, I felt like “Tears In Texas” was one of the most inarguably complete ideas from start to finish, with a performance that was remarkably endearing.  Like I told ya at the start, I call things like I hear’em – and whether or not Americana/Country is your go-to genre of choice, I think there’s a wonderful degree of accessibility to be found in “Tears In Texas” bound to appeal to those of you inside the genre just as much as those on the outside.  As in, heck yeah, I’d be happy to listen to a song like “Tears In Texas” anytime…it’s a solid win for DocFell & Co. that is a real highlight for the band all-around from the lyrical content to the melody of the music & vocals combined.  “Tears In Texas” is quite likely to be my favorite on this album, but it could just as easily be yours too…it’s got a fantastic combination of authentic sincerity and storytelling.

As for “The Death Of Me” being the final track on the record…I mean…look y’all, I’ve done the best I can in navigating these fairly uncharted waters.  It’s hard for me to hear a record like this and not somewhat feel like I’ve ended up in a bizarre episode of The Righteous Gemstones, but I always enjoy being exposed to stuff that I wouldn’t normally listen to, because variety IS the spice of life, and every time we branch out in what we listen to, it broadens our palette.  Don’t get it twisted – I KNOW there’s an audience out there that’ll love what DocFell & Co. create, because that audience has existed for even longer than I have…which is starting to say something when considering the amount of grey I’ve got coming in.  The point is, there’s plenty of good folks looking for quality Americana/Country, and if that’s what you’re into, I reckon you can’t really go wrong with DocFell & Co.’s Frequencies And Vibrations.  I’ve come a long way y’all…back when I was growing up in the Grunge era, an album like this WOULD have been “The Death Of Me” – and look at me now!  I’m happy to have had a listen, and hopefully they’ll find a nugget or two in here that is worth their while to read as a result.  I’m thankful that DocFell & Co. are thriving with such exceptional professionalism on display – they clearly do what they do very well, and are able to get people like myself onboard to listen intently…make no mistake, that’s a genuine achievement, but I’m sincere in what I’m saying.  Frequencies And Vibrations is entirely well-executed from beginning to end, and bound to scratch the itch of those that really love great Americana/Country.

Frequencies And Vibrations arrives officially this February 14^th – stay connected with DocFell & Co. in the meantime by visiting their official website at:  https://www.docfellmusic.com

Fun fact – did you know some of the most capable minds and amazing musicians you’ve ever known STILL can’t find the right way to submit their music to us?  You’d think it’d be easy, given that it’s right there on the main page of our site, yet the battle still continues!  Click here to be the next up on our pages – it’s really that simple!