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If you’re wondering how Dawes’ new album, Misadventures of Doomscroller, differs from the band’s previous seven albums, compare Frank Zappa to the Rolling Stones or REM
“I think about it a lot, especially with our kind of music, our scene, all this talking about restraint, all this talking about the economy,” Dawes singer/guitarist and lead songwriter Tyler Goldsmith said in July observed during a mid-term telephone interview. “Sometimes you hear records of these monster guitarists or monster musicians and there is no evidence of that. While I was really happy when the song asked for it because I thought that was the height of taste, I also Think when you can relax, I want to hear it.”
Dawes will perform on the Midnight Sun Stage during the Pilgrimage Music and Culture Festival at Harlingsdale Farm Park on Saturday from 4:30-5:40 pm.
The band didn’t sound like the Rolling Stones or REM — and no one ever sounded like Zappa. But especially like REM (a band Goldsmith credits with having a strong influence), the Dawes on the album kept their songs simple and reserved solos and improvisations for their live performances.
But when the pandemic hit, Goldsmith and his bandmates, drummer and brother Griffin Goldsmith, bassist Wylie Gelber and keyboardist Lee Pardini decided to ditch their rule book on “Missadventures of Doomscroller” and take what they had done on earlier albums. The musical freedom that has always been avoided.
“I think a big part of that is just the pandemic shutting everything down and we feel like who knows if travel will come back. If that’s the case, let’s make sure the music is made on our terms,” Goldsmith said. “So we felt like we should start embracing this part of us that we might feel like we’re not allowed to express (on a studio album).
And then there’s the Zappa factor.
“I think the big discovery for me before we recorded this album was Frank Zappa, and I think that was a big catalyst for making that happen in my own brain,” Goldsmith said. “I feel like I’m licensed, not that I’m a flashy guitarist, but I feel like so many Doss records (when it comes to) guitar playing is how do you do enough and move on? And then while listening to Zappa , oh, he’s doing everything he wants and everything he can, he’s really exploring the instrument and experimenting with himself, which is fun. He’s striving for excellence in what he can.
“Right now it’s like instead of seeing as little as possible if it works, let’s see as much as possible if it still works.”
The seven songs of Doom Scroll are really good. The album opens with the nearly 10-minute piece “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax”. Greeting listeners with a funky guitar hook, the song features an instrumental section that transitions from a jazzy edgy to a slick guitar solo that introduces a totally beautiful second half of the track. Every note of “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries To Relax” doesn’t feel muffled, but a song that’s intentional and integral to its length.
The same goes for other long pieces: “Everything Is Permanent” (featuring a lilting, elegant Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo); “Ghost in the Machine” (Griffin Goldsmith and producer Jonathan Wilson) The tumbling beats played give the song a wobbly tension that’s a new stylistic wrinkle for Dowes); and “Nobody’s Made Sound/Doomscroller Sunrise” (whose guitar leads and solos really boost) track).
Dawes has certainly accumulated enough experience to play together and explore various sound directions for the ambitious “Doomsday Scroll of Adventure” project.
Following the departure of Goldsmith’s songwriting partner Blake Millers in 2007, Dawes grew up from the post-punk-leaning band Simon Dawes. As Dawes, the band turned to their familiar folk rock on their 2009 debut album, “North Hills.”
The band continued to develop their sound over the next three albums, before taking an adventurous sonic turn on 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die. Produced by Mills, the band incorporated various synths and other synthetic elements into their songs, giving their songs more edgy pop-rock accents without losing their signature folk-pop sound. The 2018 album “Passwords” continued in a similar fashion, before the band returned to a more natural sound with the 2020 album “Good Luck With What.”
Dawes hasn’t been safe on tour this summer. Even in the 45-minute-limited setting that opened for The Head and the Heart, Dawes didn’t play the songs that viewers were probably most familiar with, but a few new ones.
“We wanted to go the other way and really respect this new album we’ve made and really focus on that, which in some cases could mean just four or five songs for the entire 45-minute episode,” Goldsmith said. He knew it would be a risk. “At the end of the day, I think it’s a good thing.”
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