Dawes NYE 2012 December 31, 2011

“There were moments of dreams I was offered to save. I lived less like a workhorse and more like a slave.’” When you first hear these lines, you can’t really understand why the feeling that sweeps over you is empowerment. You can’t really tell if this band is gonna help you fulfill those big plans of yours, or help you throw them against the wall. It starts to feel like the Gospel music that the non-believers have been looking for.

As you begin to listen to the record, with the bittersweet ‘That Western Skyline’ and the patient ‘Love is All I Am’ you start to realize that this band isn’t interested in the bells and whistles. The Los Angeles quartet, Taylor Goldsmith (vocals, guitar), Griffin Goldsmith (drums, vocals), Wylie Gelber (bass) and Tay Strathairn (piano, vocals) seem to get all their musicianship and expression across through the inherent nature of the instruments. They seem to have their utmost respect for the song itself, only stepping out when a song calls for it, relying on the other to keep the holes filled and the ship sailing smoothly, letting the music reflect their own personal relationships to the listener. It doesn’t just sound like four guys who are playing in a room together, it finally is.

Recorded, produced and mixed by Jonathan Wilson (guitarist with Jenny Lewis, Benji Hughes, Jonathan Rice and Elvis Costello) in his Laurel Canyon home studio, Dawes was able to achieve the minimal, warm and live sounding record that all bands talk about doing at one point or another and yet separate themselves from anything you’ve ever heard. The record ‘North Hills’ could be described as Leonard Cohen or Townes Van Zandt getting a hold of that soul band we always wanted to hear them with.

By the time you hear songs like the album’s centerpiece “When My Time Comes” or the hungry and hopeful closer “Peace in the Valley” you finally can say to yourself that you have a sense of this band’s world view, their convictions, who they really are rather than how they chose to present themselves. In a way, you feel spoken for. And yeah, you might hear a couple guitar flubs, some wonky notes sung, a dropped drum stick, an overall raw and unpolished quality, but that’s what inspires your closeness with Dawes, that’s what gives it its humanity. Dawes probably best explains it themselves on ‘”When You Call My Name:”

“So if you want to get to know me

Follow my smile down into its curves

All these lines are born in sorrows and pleasures

And every man ends up with the face that he deserves”

Official Website: http://www.kicktickets.com/37692/2011/12/31/dawes-nye-2012-varsity-theatre-minneapolis-mn