If you want to see how Dawes’ new album, Misadventures of Doomscroller, differs from the band’s seven previous albums, compare Frank Zappa to the Rolling Stones or REM.
Dawes singer/guitarist and main songwriter Taylor Goldsmith said in a phone interview in mid-July: “I hear records from monster guitarists and monster musicians sometimes, but there is no evidence of that. I would like to hear it when I can relax.
Dawes will be performing on the Midnight Sun Stage at the Pilgrimage Music and Culture Festival at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm on Saturday from 4:30-5:40pm.
This band doesn’t sound like The Rolling Stones or Rem. No one sounds like Zappa either. But especially as he does with REM (a band Goldsmith considers to be a big influence), the album Dawes keeps the songs brief and omits the solos and improvisations of his live shows. .
But when the pandemic hit, Goldsmith and his bandmates drummer and brother Griffin Goldsmith, bassist Wile Gelber, and keyboardist Lee Perdini were all set to skim the rulebook with “Misadventures of Doomscroller.” I decided to ditch it and get the musical freedom I always avoided on my previous albums.
“A large part of it was that the pandemic had shut everything down, and we felt like no one knew if the tour would resume. If so, let’s make music on our terms.” said Goldsmith. “So we felt like we should start embracing this part of ourselves that we didn’t feel allowed to express[in the studio album].
Then there was the Zappa element.
“I think Frank Zappa was a big discovery for me just before recording this album, and I think that was the big catalyst in my brain that made this possible,” said Goldsmith. “It wasn’t about being a flamboyant guitarist, it felt like permission was given, but a lot of Dawes’ records (when it comes down to it) are about how playing guitar is enough to get you next.” And then listening to Zappa, oh man, he’s doing everything he wants, he’s doing, he’s really exploring instruments, he’s experimenting with himself, it’s so much fun. embraces excellence wherever it can.
“Now instead of doing the least amount possible to see if it works, I’d like to do as much as possible to see if it still works. It’s something.”
The 7 songs in “Misadventures of Doomscroller” work really well. The album opens strongly with the nearly ten-minute piece “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax.” Greeting the listener with a snazzy chime guitar hook, the song features an instrumental segment that transitions from a jazzy edge to a smooth guitar solo and introduces the track’s downright beautiful second half. . Far from feeling jammy, every note on “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Trys To Relax” feels purposeful and integral to the song’s laid-back length.
The same goes for other long songs. “Ghost in the Machine” (A tumbling beat from Griffin Goldsmith and producer Jonathan Wilson gives the track a rocking tension, a wrinkle in Dawes’ new style). and “Sounds Nobody Made/Doomscroller Sunrise” (his guitar lead and solo really elevate the track).
Dawes describes “Misadventures of Doomscroller.
Dawes grew out of the post-punk-leaning band Simon Dawes after Goldsmith’s songwriting partner Blake Milles left in 2007. As Dawes, the group veered into a familiar folk-rock sound with his 2009 debut album North Hills.
The band continued to develop their sound on their next three albums before making an adventurous sound on their 2016 album We’re All Gonna Die. With Mills’ production, the band incorporated various synthesizers and other synthetic elements into the song, bringing an edgy pop-rock accent to the song without losing its signature folk-pop sound. The 2018 album Passwords continued in a similar vein before the band returned to a more organic sound with the 2020 album Good Luck With Whatever.
Dawes hasn’t played it safe on tour this summer. Instead of playing the most familiar songs to the audience, even though The Head and the Heart’s opening was limited to a 45-minute set, Dawes will feature several new songs.
“We wanted to go a different route. We really wanted to honor this new album that we made and really focus on it. Sometimes four or five songs for the entire 45 minute set. It could just be the song,” Goldsmith said. become a risk. “At the end of the day, I think it’s a good thing.”