DAWES : MISADVENTURES OF DOOMSCROLLER

1. Someone Else's Cafe / Doomscroller Tries To Relax
2. Comes In Waves
3. Everything Is Permanent
4. Ghost In The Machine
5. Joke In There Somewhere
6. Joke In There Somewhere (Outro)
7. Sound That No One Made / Doomscroller Sunrise

Label : Rounder Records

Release Date : July 22, 2022

Length : 46:02

Review (Sputnik Music) : California band Dawes’ career sits in a rather ambiguous place after more than a decade. They’ve toured with a host of prominent artists from folk, alt-country, and jam band circles, but never quite become a particularly big name among fans of any of these genres. They’ve accrued a reputation for impressive live showings, but while it’s clear even from their studio efforts that the band members have serious instrumental chops, a good chunk of the songs on every one of their albums have proven rather banal. In short, seven albums into their career (up to and including 2020’s LP Good Luck With Whatever), with a few exceptions, Dawes is the definition of what Sputnik users might call a “3.0 band”. Dawes’ eighth album, Misadventures Of Doomscroller, however, does not feel like the work of a 3.0 band. In some respects it’s a striking departure from the group’s status quo, something noticeable from a cursory look at the track names and lengths. Multiple songs have titles with slashes in them, indicating prog-style suites, and six of the seven songs are over five minutes in duration (the only exception being a short instrumental). The album as a whole is relatively trim (in fact, the second-shortest in the band’s discography), due to the relatively low number of tunes, but the songs presented are, without exception, deliberately grand and elegant. There’s still sonically a lot of overlap with Dawes’ previous works, the sound is just arranged with a different direction in mind. The light and mellow rock style one associates with artists like the Eagles and Jackson Browne (quite unfashionable these days) remains preeminent, with echoes of other distant artists like The Band, Dire Straits, and Steely Dan also making appearances. This decidedly retro spirit probably won’t surprise anyone who has heard a Dawes song before; after all, it’s their standard operating procedure. That produces an interesting dynamic on this release, though, as might be implied by the rather unexpected album title. To quote the ever-useful Urban Dictionary, “doomscrolling” is defined as “obsessively reading social media posts about how utterly fucked we are”. Thematically, the album does indeed delve into contemporary concerns, with the lyrics having a rather grim tint: an accusatory and bitter tone on the sprawling opener, the “get off my lawn” vibes of “Everything Is Permanent”, the meandering existentialism of “Joke In There Somewhere”. As such, it exists in an interesting dichotomy, exploring very real concerns of the present like technology and social division through the medium of warm and comforting classic rock. That said, Misadventures Of Doomscroller works, to a remarkable degree. It’s immensely satisfying to see a band take a risk and have it pay off, especially when said band has obvious talent and has been stuck in a bit of a rut. The album is strong from start to finish, moving fluidly from breezy chillness to groovier segments to moments approaching jazz fusion, all the while providing the listener with enjoyable guitar solos, lovely harmonies, and compelling lyrical narratives. Beyond all that, it’s a rock-solid mood piece, summoning in its wake a nostalgic aura and the feeling of a summer wind. If this warm blanket description feels a bit off, given that the album’s last song closes with a rather disturbing acknowledgement of the inevitability of death, remember that back in ‘76 the Eagles closed out Hotel California, which leaves behind a similarly familial sensation, with this moody observation: “call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye”. Things might feel bleak now, and Dawes doesn’t try to sugarcoat anything here, but these tunes are an absolute joy to listen to. Misadventures Of Doomscroller probably isn’t the AOTY 2022, but if your criteria is “best album to listen to while cruising the Pacific Coast Highway, wind in your hair”, well, it’s a shoo-in.

Review (Riff Magazine) : Misadventures of Doomscroller, the latest album by Dawes, captures the mood and spirit of a certain type of “doomscroller”—namely, the well-schooled, privileged, complacent moderate/liberal. These folks are observant enough to pooh-pooh and tsk-tsk the sorry state of world affairs, but they don’t typically get riled up enough to do much about it. Sure, they might talk amongst their fellow privileged types or post something on social media—and certainly, they can be counted on to vote for the “most reasonable” or “least divisive” candidate—but God forbid they do anything to miss tee time, yoga class or happy hour. Doomscroller begins with the nine-and-a-half-minute “Someone Else’s Café / Doomscroller Tries to Relax.” Though it sets up the album’s themes and tone well enough, the track’s ornateness and grandiosity seem more fitting for a finale than an opener. By the time that the stately, luxuriously mournful finale comes around, some listeners may feel that the album’s already over just as it’s begun. In any case, the track starts with some discreet drum fills before shifting to a sprightly jazz-funk groove and a tinkling, three-note keyboard riff that will stay stuck in your head for the next few days. In a breathy, mellow tenor, frontman Taylor Goldsmith addresses an unnamed and vaguely defined meanie. They can “Polish up the prisons/ And put all your critics there,” he warns, but they’re still “waiting tables/ In someone else’s café.” As Goldsmith explained in a recent news release, this beginning section “could be about tyrants… But it could also be about anyone who thinks that a little more control is gonna make everything OK.” Or, to borrow a phrase from a famously equanimous and even-handed statesman, there are uncool people on both sides. Anyway, the band skips along for about three minutes and 40 seconds before breaking into a fusion-lite instrumental passage with burbling bass and rippling guitar. Around the 5:25-mark comes the aforementioned finale, in which the band urges people to “enjoy each other’s company/ On the brink of our despair.” The Eagles-like harmonies from Goldsmith and his bandmates make that despair sound about as agonizing as having to buy nosebleed seats for Jackson Browne. Next up is the comparatively terse “Comes In Waves,” on which Goldsmith moans about feeling like “A boy that grows up in a beach town/ And never learns to surf” over a nimbly loping beat. “Am I losing my intensity?” he asks rhetorically at one point, to which some snarkier listeners might respond, “Did you have any to begin with?” However, even those listeners would concede the prettiness of Goldsmith’s high end as he sails effortlessly through the melisma of the chorus. Single “Everything is Permanent” follows. The straight-ahead rhythm, ringing guitars and deceptively sunny tune sound a bit like Dire Straits or Elvis Costello. On the other hand, the lyrics’ sniffy, shallow critique of the internet’s impact on society recalls the juxtapositions of Paul Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble” but without that song’s sense of wonder or horror. Also, why exactly should the “you” in the song feel guilty for getting mad at “some controversial stranger/ Who swears the virus didn’t exist?” A good chunk of the million-plus dead Americans would probably get mad too, if they could. The peppy “Ghost in the Machine” has a pleasant Allman-Brothers-visit-Laurel-Canyon feel, complete with chugging blues riff and elegant guitar soloing. The folk-inflected “Joke In There Somewhere” casts a mopey eye on modern suburbia. Soothing instrumental “Joke In There Somewhere (Outro)” gives listeners a minute and 38 seconds to cool down from that not-so-rough ride before they come to the album’s closer, “Sound That No One Made / Doomscroller Sunrise.” Some ominous distortion and drones give way to an ambling depiction of the bleary morning after a raging party. If anyone feels unsatisfied even after the polite jamming near the end, they should check out the latest by Alt-J, Arcade Fire or the Drive-By Truckers.

Review (Louder Than War) : Over the past thirteen years, Dawes have carved out a distinct sound, with a warmer and brighter feeling than many of their more autumnal sounding contemporaries in the indie-folk world. These Californian vibes continue across this, their eighth studio album, but also shows a band willing to move forward and throw in elements from all genres. Seeing them reunite with regular producer Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Angel Olsen), the Americana tinged new record could have easily felt like a straight forward nostalgia trip. Rather than that, however, Dawes have created something which wrestles with contemporary themes in an eloquent and thoughtful matter. The topical title taps into very modern sensibilities – the word ‘doomscroller’ being of course a recent addition to the English language, relating to our social-media fuelled paranoia and bad news addiction. Misadventures of Doomscroller sets its scene with unflinching commentary on the modern world, with Someone Else’s Cafe/Doomscroller Tries To Relax placing deceptively dark lyrics against a sunnier sound. It’s the first sign of how bold a record this is; instead of playing for attention with a simple opener, two tracks merge into one free flowing odyssey. From here the slow burning likes of Comes in Waves and the recent single Everything Is Permanent show that Dawes are at their most accomplished yet; Taylor Goldsmith’s vocals are the most nuanced they have ever sounded, perfectly equipped to take on the task of handling the big lyrical themes of the album. Things take a livelier turn with Ghost In The Machine, taking funk edges and dropping them against existential contemplation – its title drawn from the twentieth century philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s concept of the consciousness carried in a physical entity. Dawes grasp with these dualist themes in a fashion deeply observational of current society, over a sonic upbeat freakout. The album comes full circle with the closer Sound That No One Made/Doomscroller Sunrise, which opens with ominous, textural whirls before turning into a typically reflective odyssey that sees Goldsmith claiming “I just need someone to listen to the strange and dark existence.” Its safe to say there’s certainly a success in getting the listener engaged with that strange and dark existence – and with Misadventures of Doomscroller, Dawes may have just done that in the warmest and most listenable fashion possible.