I often find myself among friends and strangers, listening to some of the great records made in the 1960s and 70s. Dropping needles on the masterpieces that combined the music of a four-piece band, great melodies and harmonies, with poetic and thoughtful lyrics. Inevitably, we\u2019ll lament, and someone will say, \u201cthey don\u2019t write \u2018em like they used to.\u201d While folk rock isn\u2019t the cultural force that it once was, in these conversations I\u2019ll often say, \u201cWell, there’s Dawes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dawes is an American folk-rock band from Los Angeles, California. Composed of Taylor Goldsmith (guitars and vocals), Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Wylie Gelber (bass) and Lee Pardini (keyboards).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first heard Dawes with their debut album North Hills<\/em>, released in 2009. I loved the songs, the musicianship, and the lyrics that cut right to the core. Their second album, Nothing is Wrong<\/em>, only strengthened my relationship with them. The music rocked and swayed at the perfect time and place. I’ve followed their career ever since. And like all great artists, Dawes has grown and stretched the boundaries of who they are, and what they do. They don\u2019t keep writing the same songs and making the same album over and over again.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their 8th studio album, Misadventures of Doomscroller<\/em>, takes another step forward in their evolution. It\u2019s an album that asks the listener to take it all in, from beginning to end. Songs with connected themes, and some approaching ten minutes in length. Which is another thing that, in those music conversations, we tend to bemoan, \u201cDoes anyone want to make, or even listen to, these kinds of albums anymore?\u201d Inevitably, someone will lament and say, \u201cNo one wants a 10-minute rock song.\u201d And, again I reply, \u201cWell, there\u2019s Dawes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the title alone, you get a sense that this album captures the current zeitgeist. \u201cYou can poison opposition, find out which war to declare. You can polish up the prisons and send all your critics there,\u201d<\/em> they sing in \u201cSomeone Else\u2019s Caf\u00e9. But there\u2019s a hopeful refrain, \u201clet\u2019s enjoy each other\u2019s company, on the brink of our despair. Does someone have a song to sing, or a joke that they could share?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The songs seem to survey the madness, frustration, and negativity in our day-to-day world, and what comes from living through your screen: \u201cA wilderness of gossip, asking for deposits, yet it leaves you with some type of withdrawal. Playing on our senses, with a thousand of its lenses, on everything you ate or just bought.\u201d<\/em> (\u201cEverything is Permanent\u201d). But they also balance it with a positive message about coming together and not letting this new world pull us apart: \u201cEvery time we’ve sat here getting nervous for the future. We’ve ended up some version of okay<\/em> … But there’s a joke in there\u2026we just gotta find a way to laugh.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (\u201cJoke In There Somewhere\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dawes is a band that remembers the days of auld lang syne (days gone by). But their music is also of today, and for today. So, let\u2019s drop the needle, as it were, on this new record. Misadventures of Doomscroller is an album that combines the music of a four-piece band, great melodies and harmonies, with poetic and thoughtful lyrics. It rocks and sways and has the perfect time and place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n