At their core, Meric Long’s songs are all acoustic folk ditties. Add in the frenzied, war-like drumming of Logan Kroeber, and you get The Dodos, a band with an inner quiet-versus-loud conflict that is equal parts frantic and poignant. They strike an unlikely balance between folk sensibilities and heavy metal grandiosity.

On the San Francisco duo’s second full-length, Visiter, the band experiments with vast spaces in their studio. While Long’s guitar and vocals are often front and centre, Kroeber’s inventive drumming demands attention, even if it sounds like it’s coming from the other side of the room.

The band’s unique approach is exemplified in “Red and Purple,” in which a lonely tale of abandonment is transformed into a marching band energy blitz, and “Joe’s Waltz,” a jam session in which the two members feed off each other, culminating in a truly memorable freak-out ending.

Naming your band after a bird whose extinction is so famous it has become a figure of speech may not seem like the best strategy, but perhaps it’s just a testament to their one-of-a-kind sound. While a touch too long, there is more than enough on Visiter to keep you fully engrossed.