[rating=6.00]
The release of Stories Don’t End marks Dawes’ third full-length album in four years. Frequently hailed as a vintage purveyors 70’s folk-rock, the band has been rightly praised for their storytelling sensibility and raw musicality. With few frills and loads of patience the band continues to evolve their craft on Stories. While the last two records were recorded in their hometown of Los Angeles, Dawes relocated to Asheville, North Carolina with a new producer, Jacquire King, seeking a reprieve from the “Laurel Canyon”-folk label that has followed them since their inception. While Taylor Goldsmith’s sincere and often solemn songwriting remains front and center, Stories Don’t End has a few more missteps and feels less timeless then both North Hills and Nothing is Wrong. Nonetheless, it contains many moments of beautiful revelation.
“Just Beneath the Surface” is one such moment, beginning the album with a transcendent slice of the band at their best as Goldsmith skillfully conveys visceral, bone-deep emotion through his pairing of striking melodies and confessional words. “Just beneath the surface there’s another one of me/at the root of all my trouble in the twitch before I speak/with thoughts and revelations even I cannot accept/so just beneath the surface is where he will stay kept.” Unfortunately, first single “From a Window Seat” follows up with a weighty thud. The overly clean production feels antiseptic and the country bass line is simply heavy instead of dependably rich.
By alternating between expressive and easygoing folk-balladry and narrative, mid tempo rock n’ roll, Stories highlights Dawes’ enduring melodic focus. While many young bands fall prey to cheap songwriting thrills of loud n’ long histrionics, from the beginning Dawes has been cut from a different mold. On tracks like “Just My Luck” with its sweet, ascending melodies and sparse, crisp playing the band sounds like lovers reverently sharing intimacy. “Someone Will” is the sound of this intimacy evolving as the band thumps in their sweet spot with the younger Goldsmith and bassist Wiley Gelber shining in syncopation. On “Most People” and “Hey Lover” the band sits in a (barely) mid-tempo pocket with glorious results.
Stories loses its traction by leaning too heavily on slow ballads. “Side Effects”, “Bear Witness” and “Stories Don’t End” drag even while the lyrics remain witty, the melodies pretty and harmonies pitch perfect. The songs simply plod more then pop yet Dawes’ less then highlight-worthy material retains integrity and emotional grit. Closing out the album with a heart-wrenching reprise of “Just Beneath the Surface” they remind us what their delicate hands can do. This prolific and heart-centered band will be around for a long time to come.
