Mike Watt and Kira Roessler Release New Dos Album

Bassists/singers Mike Watt and Kira Roessler have released their latest effort from their bass-focused duo, Dos. Dos y Dos is a 13-track release featuring two basses and vocals by Roessler.

The duo first teamed up in 1985. Watt was playing bass with The Minutemen full-time while Roessler performed with Black Flag. The two began recording together on Watt’s four-track, before tragedy struck later that year.

Days before The Minutemen release 3 Way Tie for Last, the group’s founding member D. Boon passed away, leaving Watt distraught and questioning his musical career. Roessler dealt with her own issues, as Black Flag broke up, leading the bassist to leave California.

Watt and Roessler began corresponding by mail, exchanging cassettes with bass tracks and vocals. Eventually, the duo had enough material to justify officially forming the band in 1986, performing their first show and releasing their self-titled debut.

“Dos (spanish for two, as in uno, dos, tres…) is Kira (from Twisted Roots, Sexsick and Black Flag) on bass/singing and Watt on bass. That’s it – just two basses and her voice. Sometimes Watt’s voice too but not much,” Watt shares. “We’ve been together since the fall of 1985, this is my longest running band. I really dig playing with Dos. It started as an experiment with making what’s commonly believed a backup instrument up front and paired off with a twin, using pingpong-like arrangements to create a special space which is pretty much close to the deck but not smothered by competition. What we try to do is develop conversations between our two basses and create a landscape of low end dynamic. In Dos, there is no hiding. This is both the challenge and the reward.”

Watt and Roessler were also married for a time, but ended the marriage in 1994. The band carried on.

Preview and download Dos Y Dos:

Dos y Dos Track List:

1. number nine
2. the winds of may
3. make her me
4. new years waltz
5. uncle mike
6. ties to bind
7. number eight
8. only you will know
9. no me queda mas
10. frantic
11. song for poe
12. it turned cold
13. om om om