Dawes | ||
| Allmusic Biography : With their lyrical, highly literate West Coast sound centered on lead singer/songwriter Taylor Goldsmith, Californias Dawes established themselves at the forefront the roots rock scene after emerging in 2009. Influenced by the gentle acoustic style and rich vocal harmonies of the Laurel Canyon sound (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell) as well as the shambling, romanticized Americana of the Band, Dawes built a loyal following with their vintage-influenced aesthetic. Dawes initially broke through with their sophomore album, 2011s Nothing Is Wrong, which drew critical praise and landed at number 18 on Billboards Top Rock Albums chart. That same year, they also found themselves playing alongside legendary singer/songwriter Jackson Browne at a highly publicized Occupy Wall Street protest. Since then, they continued to win accolades and commercial success, including twice topping the Billboard Americana/Folk Albums chart with 2015s All Your Favorite Bands and 2016s Were All Gonna Die. Dawes were formed in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hills by brothers Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Blake Mills (guitar), and Wylie Gelber (bass). Initially, they called themselves Simon Dawes, an amalgamation of singer Goldsmiths and guitarist Mills middle names. However, after Mills left the group, they changed the name (and added guitarist Alex Casnoff, who was soon replaced by Tay Strathairn). Unlike the more intense indie rock sound they had as Simon Dawes, Dawes quickly shifted to a more rootsy, 60s and 70s style of guitar-based rock. After connecting with producer Jonathan Wilson, the group began participating in informal jam sessions at Wilsons house with Bright Eyes Conor Oberst, the Heartbreakers Benmont Tench, and the Black Crowes Chris Robinson. The loose feel of these get-togethers informed the groups aptly titled 2009 debut, North Hills. The album was recorded in Laurel Canyon live to analog tape, which lent Dawes recorded sound an authentically vintage vibe. The bands second album, 2011s Nothing Is Wrong, had a similar feel to the debut and peaked at number 18 on Billboards Top Rock Albums chart. That same year, the band had a pair of unique experiences: playing at the Occupy Wall Street protests and appearing as themselves on a prime-time network television show (Parenthood). Stories Dont End, the groups hotly anticipated third studio album, arrived in 2013. Produced by Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse, Josh Ritter), the album also featured contributions from the Goldsmith brothers former Simon Dawes bandmate Blake Mills. Recorded in Nashville at the esteemed Woodland Studios with producer David Rawlings (Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show), the Hub-issued All Your Favorite Bands arrived in June 2015. The well-received album reached number one on Billboards Folk Albums chart and number four on the Top Rock Albums chart, and helped raise the bands profile. In 2016, Dawes released their fifth studio album, Were All Gonna Die. The album found them once again reuniting with longtime associate Blake Mills, who handled production duties. Included on the album was the leadoff single "When the Tequila Runs Out." Later that year, they set out on the An Evening with Dawes tour to promote the record. The show was distinctly different from past tours, as the band performed up to three hours with an intermission and no opening act. They returned in 2018 with their sixth LP, Passwords. The record, which featured a more 80s-style adult contemporary influence, was conceptually and lyrically based on "dealing with the modern world" and how society interacts in the 2010s. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 12 Title: North Hills Released: 2009-06-16 Tracks: 11 Duration: 55:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 That Western Skyline (05:59) 2 Love Is All I Am (05:17) 3 When You Call My Name (04:45) 4 Give Me Time (03:18) 5 When My Time Comes (05:08) 6 God Rest My Soul (04:59) 1 Bedside Manner (04:12) 2 My Girl to Me (04:51) 3 Take Me Out of the City (05:12) 4 If You Let Me Be Your Anchor (04:25) 5 Peace in the Valley (06:56) |
| North Hills : Allmusic album Review : Often billed as the next generation of the Laurel Canyon sound, rootsy quartet Dawes evoke the spirit of their predecessors by matching acoustic-based music reminiscent of the Band or Harvest-era Neil Young with Byrds/Crosby, Stills & Nash-like vocal harmonies and lyrics that aspire to poetry. The quartets debut album, North Hills (named for the groups Los Angeles area hometown, which is only 20 minutes away from Laurel Canyon), was recorded almost entirely live in the studio to 2" analog tape, an approach perfectly suited to the combos earthy sound. The discs producer, Jonathan Wilson, often invited the members of Dawes to join in on informal, multi-generational jam sessions featuring Bright Eyes Conor Oberst, the Heartbreakers Benmont Tench, and the Black Crowes Chris Robinson, and the spare, tasteful vibe of these artists seems to have inspired the feeling of North Hills. Lead vocalist Taylor Goldsmith is a careful wordsmith and endearing, emotive vocalist, coming off a bit like a mix of Gram Parsons and Kings of Leons Caleb Followill. "When My Time Comes" finds him delivering a rapid-fire Dylanesque monologue about the difficulty of personal maturation, before breaking into a soaring chorus worthy of U2s Bono. Elsewhere, such as on "Bedside Manner" and first single "Love Is All I Am," the band leaves space for more gentle reflection, with lazy drumbeats, loping bass, and subtle organ flourishes creating the musical equivalent of a breezy California sunset. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 12 Title: Live in DC Released: 2010 Tracks: 8 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 That Western Skyline (?) 2 God Rest My Soul (?) 3 Love Is All I Am (?) 4 So Well (?) 5 Bedside Manner (?) 6 When My Time Comes (?) 7 Peace in the Valley (?) 8 How Far Weve Come (?) |
 | Album: 3 of 12 Title: Nothing Is Wrong Released: 2011-06-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 51:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Time Spent in Los Angeles (04:28) 2 If I Wanted Someone (04:39) 3 My Way Back Home (06:25) 4 Coming Back to a Man (03:51) 5 So Well (05:31) 6 How Far We’ve Come (02:59) 7 Fire Away (06:23) 8 Moon in the Water (03:54) 9 Million Dollar Bill (04:12) 10 The Way You Laugh (03:48) 11 A Little Bit of Everything (05:39) |
| Nothing Is Wrong : Allmusic album Review : Painting their own version of heartland rock & roll with broad, unhurried strokes, Dawes continue carrying the torch of L.A.’s country-rock community -- once dominated by the likes of Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Neil Young -- on their second album. Nothing Is Wrong picks up where North Hills left off, mixing the band’s midtempo songwriting with dusty handfuls of pedal steel, organ, and imperfect harmonies. The music may owe as much to the American South as California, but Los Angeles figures heavily in the band’s leisurely pace, which picks up at key moments but rarely moves beyond a casual clop. Some songs are even straight-up ballads, with “Moon in the Water” taking its cues from James Taylor and “A Little Bit of Everything” trading the band’s guitar-driven sound for upright piano. Those looking to rock out won’t find many headbanging opportunities here, but Nothing Is Wrong works well as driving music, particularly if the scenery outside your windshield matches the sepia-toned music. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 12 Title: Struggling Through the Burdens of Each Day: Echo Mountain Recording, Asheville, NC, USA Released: 2011-06-07 Tracks: 4 Duration: 17:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Coming Back to a Man (04:07) 2 So Well (05:37) 3 Rest Easy (03:53) 4 The Way You Laugh (04:05) |
 | Album: 5 of 12 Title: Daytrotter Presents No. 3 Released: 2012-06-25 Tracks: 9 Duration: 29:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Coming Back to a Man (04:07) 2 So Well (05:37) 3 Rest Easy (03:53) 4 The Way You Laugh (04:05) 5 They Killed John Henry (03:00) 6 Aint Waitin (02:10) 7 Mamas Eyes (03:08) 8 Cant Hardly Wait (03:03) 9 Lone Pine (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 12 Title: Stories Don’t End Released: 2013-04-02 Tracks: 12 Duration: 51:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Just Beneath the Surface (04:08) 2 From a Window Seat (04:28) 3 Just My Luck (04:06) 4 Someone Will (03:33) 5 Most People (04:31) 6 Something in Common (05:11) 1 Hey Lover (02:47) 2 Bear Witness (04:17) 3 Stories Don’t End (05:00) 4 From the Right Angle (04:10) 5 Side Effects (05:42) 6 Just Beneath the Surface (reprise) (03:16) |
| Stories Don’t End : Allmusic album Review : Stories Dont End, the third outing from breezy Los Angeles-based retro-rockers Dawes, takes its name from a line in author Joan Didions 1984 wartime novel Democracy. Its an enigmatic phrase to be sure, but it certainly applies to the groups penchant for crafting highly literate slabs of smooth, West Coast Americana out of the highway wreckage left behind by artists like the Eagles, the Little River Band, Poco, Jackson Browne, and Gram Parsons. Less overtly Laurel Canyon-centric than 2011s Nothing Is Wrong, due in some part to the East Coast Blue Ridge Mountain locale in which it was birthed, the album keeps the bands classic rock underpinnings intact, yielding a fresh catch of smooth and soulful, largely midtempo offerings that focus on substance over style, relying primarily on the strength of the tasteful, measured arrangements and bandleader Taylor Goldsmiths easy voice and crafty wordplay. Stories Dont End barely registers upon the first spin (its easy pop for the millennial generation), but if given the time to percolate, it produces a damn fine cup of coffee. This adherence to familiar singer/songwriter tropes is best exemplified on tracks like the rolling "From a Window Seat (Rivers and Freeways)," which echoes Midlakes "Roscoe," the Ben Folds-esque "Just My Luck," and the lovely, mid-record ballad "Something in Common," the latter of which frames Goldsmiths tale of hope and heartache in the reassuring glow of vibrato guitar, simple kick and snare, and a melody that sounds like it floated out of the studio sessions for Paul Simons Still Crazy After All These Years. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 12 Title: Stripped Down at Grimeys Released: 2013-11-29 Tracks: 6 Duration: 31:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 From A Window Seat (05:36) 2 Someone Will (03:51) 3 Time Spent In Los Angeles (04:29) 4 Most People (05:13) 5 Something In Common (05:12) 6 A Little Bit Of Everything (06:47) |
 | Album: 8 of 12 Title: Daytrotter Session Released: 2014-03-06 Tracks: 5 Duration: 20:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Welcome to Daytrotter (00:03) 2 Someone Will (03:48) 3 From a Window Seat (06:02) 4 Just My Luck (04:31) 5 Stories Dont End (06:22) |
 | Album: 9 of 12 Title: All Your Favorite Bands Released: 2015-06-01 Tracks: 9 Duration: 47:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Things Happen (04:03) 2 Somewhere Along the Way (05:39) 3 Don’t Send Me Away (04:54) 4 All Your Favorite Bands (03:35) 5 I Can’t Think About It Now (06:15) 6 To Be Completely Honest (04:43) 7 Waiting for Your Call (04:09) 8 Right on Time (04:48) 9 Now That It’s Too Late, Maria (09:45) |
| All Your Favorite Bands : Allmusic album Review : At the start of Dawes fourth studio effort, 2015s All Your Favorite Bands, lead singer Taylor Goldsmith kicks off the sanguine opener "Things Happen" by admitting "I could go on talking, or I could stop/Wring out each memory til I get every drop." This sentiment, ripe with a post-breakup emotional stew of yearning, anger, and eventual acceptance, colors all the tracks on this tight, impeccably crafted album. Influenced by the passionate 70s country-rock and singer/songwriter sound of artists like Jackson Browne and groups like the Band, Los Angeles Dawes have quietly built a loyal following with their own brand of memorable and often poignant folk-rock. Produced by journeyman composer and guitarist David Rawlings (Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, the Decemberists) at Nashvilles Woodland Studios, All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture thats at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished. Its perhaps the closest Dawes has come to capturing their live sound. Each song is performed with an intimate, personal intensity, making it feel like they’re playing it only for you. Cuts like the urgent, minor-key "I Cant Think About It Now," with its gospel-style female backing vocals, and the heartbreakingly honest "Waiting for Your Call" are rootsy anthems that combine Goldsmiths poetic, literate lyrics, crisp vocal harmonies, and evocative, Dire Straits-influenced guitars with the hushed ripple of a Hammond organ. These songs, while efficiently constructed, have plenty of breathing room -- there are actual guitar solos here, and jazz-like drum accents. Of course, a big part of what makes Dawes songs so palpable is Goldsmiths knack for highlighting those often mundane details in life that initially seem insignificant, but take on greater meaning in hindsight. On the title track he sings "When I think of you, youve still got on that hat that says Lets Party/I hope that thing is never thrown away," and later, "I hope your brothers El Camino runs forever." Although most likely directed at a former flame, with the songs insistent, piano-driven vibe it sometimes feels more like a message of goodwill toward the bands own fans. Similarly, on the ruminative breakup number "Dont Send Me Away," Goldsmith transforms his car into a mausoleum of regret with the line "Im getting on the freeway/Your jackets in my car/Your ashes in my ashtray/And Im there with you, wherever you are." Its this gift for capturing intangible longing that drives much of All Your Favorite Bands. Goldsmith perhaps expresses this the best on the tragic ballad "To Be Completely Honest." He sings "I think I know how it ends/The universe continues expanding while we discuss particulars of just being friends/And maybe that makes everything okay/Your memory the defect at the heart of every promise." Ultimately, All Your Favorite Bands is a comforting album, leaving you with the notion that whatever happens in your life, good, bad, or indifferent, all things take on a beautiful if bittersweet meaning when viewed through the rear-view mirror. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 12 Title: We’re All Gonna Die Released: 2016-09-16 Tracks: 10 Duration: 46:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 One of Us (04:54) 2 We’re All Gonna Die (05:05) 3 Roll With the Punches (04:25) 4 Picture of a Man (04:20) 5 Less Than Five Miles Away (04:57) 6 Roll Tide (05:28) 7 When the Tequila Runs Out (04:45) 8 For No Good Reason (04:21) 9 Quitter (03:51) 10 As If by Design (04:16) |
| We’re All Gonna Die : Allmusic album Review : The fifth studio album from Dawes, 2016s cheekily titled Were All Gonna Die, finds the rootsy Los Angeles outfit pushing its melodic, literate roots rock in an artsier, more sonically experimental direction. Following up the groups engaging 2015 effort All Your Favorite Bands, Were All Gonna Die feels like the beginning of a creative transformation where the band begins to shed all genre constraints and influences, emerging as its own fantastically musical creature. It brings to mind the early-2000s metamorphosis of Wilco, the most obvious antecedent to Dawes own thinking-mans folk-rock aesthetic. Still centered on lead singer/songwriter Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes take all the poignant twang that made up their previous work and imbue it with a tactile, delicately experimental vibe on a set of songs that are as imaginative and catchy as ever. Some of the credit for the bands auspicious phonic shift here must go to former Dawes guitarist Blake Mills, who returned to handle production duties. With his knack for rootsy authenticity and ear for indie rock explorations, Mills approach brings to mind the similarly inclined work of producers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake with artists like Sheryl Crow and Ron Sexsmith. However, rather than contriving something arch and impenetrable, Dawes songs here are wry, often humorous, and filled with an open-armed joy for life. That joy is reflected in the bands unexpected musical choices. Built around a clipped, low-end electric guitar riff, the leadoff track, "One of Us," finds Goldsmith layering his voice in lo-fi microphone fuzz, deftly undercutting the songs sparkling, infectious chorus. Similarly, the band contrasts a booming distorted bass riff against 70s wah-wah guitar on the euphoric, soul-inflected "When the Tequila Runs Out." Elsewhere, as on the the vibrantly tropical "Picture of a Man," Dawes frame Goldsmiths vocals against a ringing church organ and a kinetic layer of insect-sounding percussion and harmonized backing vocals. All told, the album vibrates with a dichotomous energy that somehow brings to mind an improbable mix of Tom Petty, Paul Simon, and Electric Light Orchestra. And its an energy that flows from Goldsmiths lyrics as he finds layers of metaphysical irony and eye-winking depth to unveil in his steady, warm croon. As Goldsmith sings on "As If by Design," "The stars were just the holes punched in the shoebox/That gives a creature all the air he needs to breathe/As if every constellation was just a form of ventilation/From a captor too enormous to conceive." And later, "Every day getting a little more acquainted with the riddles until Im looking for them everywhere I go." With Were All Gonna Die, Dawes have crafted an album rife with riddles and musical poetry, whose meaning may take a few listens to completely grab you. However, when it does finally hit you, its hard to shake the feeling that Dawes have opened a door into the cosmos. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 12 Title: We’re All Gonna Live Released: 2017-02-14 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:19:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Coming Back to a Man (06:05) 2 One of Us (05:23) 3 Right on Time (05:54) 4 Quitter (04:00) 5 Somewhere Along the Way (09:18) 6 Roll With the Punches (04:37) 7 A Little Bit of Everything (05:53) 1 Less Than Five Miles Away (06:39) 2 Things Happen (05:01) 3 From the Right Angle (05:01) 4 Still Gonna Die (01:12) 5 We’re All Gonna Die (04:54) 6 Picture of a Man (06:39) 7 When the Tequila Runs Out (04:50) 8 All Your Favorite Bands (04:29) |
 | Album: 12 of 12 Title: Passwords Released: 2018-06-22 Tracks: 10 Duration: 51:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Living in the Future (04:50) 2 Stay Down (03:20) 3 Crack the Case (05:54) 4 Feed the Fire (05:57) 5 My Greatest Invention (05:46) 6 Telescope (06:34) 7 I Can’t Love (05:35) 8 Mistakes We Should Have Made (03:48) 9 Never Gonna Say Goodbye (03:56) 10 Time Flies Either Way (05:53) |
| Passwords : Allmusic album Review : Dawes Taylor Goldsmith has always been the kind of insightful singer/songwriter whose lyrics read a lot like poetry. Theyre like thoughtful journal entries turned into literate, symbol-heavy songs rife with self-effacing revelations and timely insights into the state of the world. So it makes sense that the bands sixth studio album, the aptly titled Passwords, finds Goldsmith investigating notions of communication -- with ourselves and with each other, both successfully and pathetically -- and the myriad ways our social media-frenzied climate can make the truth feel so elusive. He addresses this theme explicitly on the crunchy midtempo opener, "Living in the Future." Singing in a hushed deadpan delivery, he sneers "Its the battle of the passwords/Its the trumpets on the hill/Its that constant paranoia/Its the final fire drill." While he certainly imbues the rest of the album with an equally ominous sense of big-brother fatigue, the warmth and innate humanity at the core of each song lighten the tone. Helping achieve this balance is a longtime associate of the band, Laurel Canyon-based producer Jonathan Wilson. Working together, theyve crafted a somewhat low-key album, full of gently rendered melodies and sophisticated arrangements. Dawes accent their twangy West Coast sound with glassy synthesizers, slippery, Eric Clapton-esque guitars, and jazzy piano lines, smartly evoking the 80s adult contemporary albums of artists like Bruce Hornsby, Fleetwood Mac, and Steve Winwood. The sound fits the dusky, introspective tone of songs like "Stay Down" and "Crack the Case," in which Goldsmith compares modern communication to a "sick version of telephone." Elsewhere, as on "Feed the Fire," he turns his critical eye inward, suspiciously dissecting his own fame and privilege. Similarly, on "Stay Down" he admits that drinking "micheladas in the afternoon" and hiding from reality (and perhaps more specifically the Internet) is often preferable to engaging with it. He sings "Stay down/Til the smoke has been cleared/And your name cant be found." As dark as Goldsmith gets on Passwords, he remains hopeful, even romantic, summoning images of Romeo and Juliet and "Cusack holding that stereo" on the tender love song "Never Gonna Say Goodbye." Its that bittersweet message of hope for humanity on Passwords that resonates the strongest. | ||