DAWES
''ALL YOUR FAVORITE BANDS''
JUNE 2 2015
47:30
1 Things Happen 04:03
2 Somewhere Along The Way 05:37
3 Don't Send Me Away 04:52
4 All Your Favorite Bands (Jonny Fritz, Taylor Goldsmith) 03:30
5 I Can' Think About It Now 06:12
6 To Be Completely Honest 04:39
7 Waiting For Your Call 04:06
8 Right On Time 04:45
9 Now That It's Too Late, Maria 09:41
Tracks By Taylor Goldsmith, Except 4
Richard Bennett/Guitar (Acoustic)
Brent Bishop Assistant Engineer
Dawes Primary Artist
Paul Franklin/Pedal Steel
Wylie Gelber/Bass Guitar
Griffin Goldsmith/Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Taylor Goldsmith/Guitar, Vocals
Ann McCrary/Vocals (Background)
Frieda McCrary/Vocals (Background)
Regina McCrary/Tambourine, Vocals (Background)
David Rawlings/Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Tay Strathairn/Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
Gillian Welch/Vocals (Background)
REVIEW/AMG
by Matt Collar
At the start of Dawes' fourth studio effort, 2015's 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 Nashville's Woodland Studios, All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture that's at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished. It's 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 Can't Think About It Now," with its gospel-style female backing vocals, and the heartbreakingly honest "Waiting for Your Call" are rootsy anthems that combine Goldsmith's 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 Goldsmith's 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, you've still got on that hat that says 'Let's Party'/I hope that thing is never thrown away," and later, "I hope your brother's El Camino runs forever." Although most likely directed at a former flame, with the song's insistent, piano-driven vibe it sometimes feels more like a message of goodwill toward the band's own fans. Similarly, on the ruminative breakup number "Don't Send Me Away," Goldsmith transforms his car into a mausoleum of regret with the line "I'm getting on the freeway/Your jacket's in my car/Your ashes in my ashtray/And I'm there with you, wherever you are." It's 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.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Pemberton Roach
California-based roots rock band Dawes were formed in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hills by brothers Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar and drums, respectively), Wylie Gelber (bass), and Alex Casnoff (guitar). They were previously in the band Simon Dawes, but after Blake Mills left the group, they changed the name (and added Casnoff, who was soon replaced by Tay Strathairn). Unlike the more intense indie rock sound they had as Simon Dawes, Dawes were heavily influenced by the gentle, acoustic-based musical trappings and rich vocal harmony of the Laurel Canyon sound (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell), as well as by the shambling, romanticized Americana of the Band. After connecting with producer Jonathan Wilson, the group began participating in informal jam sessions at Wilson's 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 group's 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 band's second album, 2011's Nothing Is Wrong had a similar feel to the debut and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard album charts. 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 Don't End, the group's hotly anticipated third studio album, arrived in 2013. 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.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
''ALL YOUR FAVORITE BANDS''
JUNE 2 2015
47:30
1 Things Happen 04:03
2 Somewhere Along The Way 05:37
3 Don't Send Me Away 04:52
4 All Your Favorite Bands (Jonny Fritz, Taylor Goldsmith) 03:30
5 I Can' Think About It Now 06:12
6 To Be Completely Honest 04:39
7 Waiting For Your Call 04:06
8 Right On Time 04:45
9 Now That It's Too Late, Maria 09:41
Tracks By Taylor Goldsmith, Except 4
Richard Bennett/Guitar (Acoustic)
Brent Bishop Assistant Engineer
Dawes Primary Artist
Paul Franklin/Pedal Steel
Wylie Gelber/Bass Guitar
Griffin Goldsmith/Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Taylor Goldsmith/Guitar, Vocals
Ann McCrary/Vocals (Background)
Frieda McCrary/Vocals (Background)
Regina McCrary/Tambourine, Vocals (Background)
David Rawlings/Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Tay Strathairn/Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
Gillian Welch/Vocals (Background)
REVIEW/AMG
by Matt Collar
At the start of Dawes' fourth studio effort, 2015's 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 Nashville's Woodland Studios, All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture that's at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished. It's 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 Can't Think About It Now," with its gospel-style female backing vocals, and the heartbreakingly honest "Waiting for Your Call" are rootsy anthems that combine Goldsmith's 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 Goldsmith's 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, you've still got on that hat that says 'Let's Party'/I hope that thing is never thrown away," and later, "I hope your brother's El Camino runs forever." Although most likely directed at a former flame, with the song's insistent, piano-driven vibe it sometimes feels more like a message of goodwill toward the band's own fans. Similarly, on the ruminative breakup number "Don't Send Me Away," Goldsmith transforms his car into a mausoleum of regret with the line "I'm getting on the freeway/Your jacket's in my car/Your ashes in my ashtray/And I'm there with you, wherever you are." It's 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.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Pemberton Roach
California-based roots rock band Dawes were formed in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hills by brothers Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar and drums, respectively), Wylie Gelber (bass), and Alex Casnoff (guitar). They were previously in the band Simon Dawes, but after Blake Mills left the group, they changed the name (and added Casnoff, who was soon replaced by Tay Strathairn). Unlike the more intense indie rock sound they had as Simon Dawes, Dawes were heavily influenced by the gentle, acoustic-based musical trappings and rich vocal harmony of the Laurel Canyon sound (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell), as well as by the shambling, romanticized Americana of the Band. After connecting with producer Jonathan Wilson, the group began participating in informal jam sessions at Wilson's 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 group's 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 band's second album, 2011's Nothing Is Wrong had a similar feel to the debut and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard album charts. 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 Don't End, the group's hotly anticipated third studio album, arrived in 2013. 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.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
