After Dog Day released its full-length debut, Night Group, in 2007, the Halifax indie-rock outfit hit the Trans-Canada hard, hoping to get it into as many ears as possible via relentless touring.

So it makes sense, then, that the quartet's recently released sophomore album, Concentration, is a product of the road.

"We did a lot of touring around Night Group and we started realizing what kind of songs we wanted to play live," says drummer KC Spidle, over the phone from Toronto. "We were looking at what we could do onstage. So this record was more about being focused.

"The last record was a little more influenced by being isolated in a small city and trying to kill boredom," he continues. "This one was about fun - we wrote a lot on the road, so that freedom really influenced the record."

Concentration does indeed have a live-show energy about it. Punctuated with sloppy-on-purpose guitars, squiggly synths, handclaps and beautifully stark boy-girl vocals, the record is a note-perfect blend of modern indie pop and '90s college rock.

Spidle, 31, and bandmates Seth Smith (vocals/guitar), Crystal Thili (keys) and Nancy Urich (bass) tracked the record themselves at their basement studio in Halifax in the fall of 2008, before Smith and Urich took it down to Hoboken, N.J., to be mixed and mastered by John Agnello at Water Music Recording. The veteran producer has helmed records by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and The Hold Steady, so naturally, the members of Dog Day thought he'd be a perfect fit.

"I didn't personally go to the studio, but he was really on our wavelength - and the records he'd produced before were really up our alley," Spidle says. "He seemed really into our music, which is a nice thing in a producer. Plus, he's a Virgo, and we have a lot of Virgo power in out band."

As it would turn out, Agnello was just excited about Dog Day.

"These kids are wonderful. I am head over heels about them," Agnello wrote in an October 2o08 post on his website. "I cannot stress to you how great this record is. We're gonna try really hard to break this record in the States."

For now, though, Dog Day is focusing on getting the record heard in Canada. The band is currently in the middle of a 16-date cross-country jaunt and so far, Concentration is living up to the quartet's live-show expectations.

"I've really enjoyed playing these songs," Spidle says. "We wanted to make something that would be fun to tour - and (the songs) really seem to resonate with the people."

DOG DAY
June 5, Royal Albert Arms
Opening for Julie Doiron w/ Les Jupes