Dawes: Smart Pop for Sentient Adults

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Mar 17, 2017

Taylor Goldsmith, lead singer of Dawes, doesn’t have the look of a rock star, but this is Alternative Rock, a sub-genre that places a premium on writing. And here there are few better. Dawes once toured with Bob Dylan, an honor they hoped might turn into friendship. Dylan ignored them. After the final concert of the tour, as he was walking out, he nodded as he passed Goldsmith. “Nice song,” he said, and kept going. A very nice song indeed, performed here solo acoustic:

Dawes is making a major tour to promote its new release, “We’re All Gonna Die.” A friend and I went to the Beacon to see if they were as good live as they are on our home speakers. Verdict: just as good.

As you listen, you’ll do well to pay close attention to the lyrics. Samples:

Why are the people we love the same ones we can also hate?

The stars are just the holes punched in a shoebox/ That gives a creature all the air he needs to breathe.

Every promise was negotiable/ Most of all the ones they made alone/ When she finally forgave/ What he’ll take to his grave/ Learning not to pick up the phone

I’m asking now for reconciliation/ I’m asking now for what we have to say/ I’m asking now for both of us to do a little changing/ I wanna dance with you/ forever, in this one cabaret/ If we just allow ourselves, it’ll be okay

[To buy the CD and get a free MP3 download, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.]