Dawes- All Your Favorite Bands (ALBUM REVIEW)

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Dawes’ career to this point consists of two steps forward, in the form of initial studio works North Hills and Nothing Is Wrong, one step back, as represented by the sterile Stories Don’t End and a combination return to roots/holding pattern Stripped Down at Grimey’s. If All Your Favorite Bands doesn’t represent more progress, it nevertheless reaffirms Dawes’ strengths as they confidently exhibit how the deceptive simplicity of their instrumental sound imprints the intelligence of their lyrics.

But even as the quartet extols those virtues, they neither demean or diminish the impact of the well-wrought, provocative  melodies they compose such as  “Things Happen.” When chief songwriter Taylor Goldsmith harmonizes with his bandmates on “Somewhere Along the Way,” the tune and the  performance soars even as his song lyrics, artfully oblique as they sometimes are, provoke thought and emotion. Goldsmith’s forthright yet vulnerable voice suggests how he wears his heart on his sleeve (albeit slightly protectively) while, to fully portray the mood, the rhythm section of drummer Griffin  Goldsmith and bassist Wylie Gelber swings and swaggers beneath a mix featuring acoustic guitars as prominently as electric ones.

The keyboards manned by Tay Straitharn further enhance the clarity of the sound on All Your Favorite Bands, with the surge of organ during the refrain of “To Be Completely Honest,” but more so when combined with percussion on “Don’t Send Me Away.” An acoustic piano at the foundation of the title song reaffirms the elements of R&B and gospel interwoven with more familiar folk-rock elements of heartily strummed guitars plus heavier chords supplanted by a stinging lead (the corollary of which is the shiny line snaking through “I Can’t Think About It Now”).

In contrast to their last studio outing, Dawes sound like a band again when they stretch out a bit on cuts like that and their collective presence fortifies the strength of their original material, so much so that, rather than denigration of these structured arrangements captured so faithfully by producer Dave Rawlings in Nashville at Woodland Studios (notably pictured on the back cover),  it’s a most attractive proposition to envision concert versions of these numbers. This is particularly promising with the recent enlistment of former Allman Brother Dickey Betts’ offspring Duane into the Dawes touring lineup,  the growth that’s resumed and reaffirmed on this album indicates the next stage of that development would be in the live setting.

In the meantime, the personal call to action, as indicated via the clarion call guitars on “Right On Time,” is as ripe to savor on its own terms as the quiet contemplation of “Waiting for Your Call:” “Now That It’s Too Late, Maria” is hardly the only cut on All Your Favorite Bands that contains detail compelling close attention.