BY BILL BENTLEY
Dawes, Nothing Is Wrong, ATO Records
It isn’t always easy being the new Great American Band, especially when not everyone has found out yet. But Dawes are surely knocking on that door right now, and with Nothing Is Wrong there’s a grand chance it could open wide. Their debut album, North Hills, made it clear something was seriously shaking in Southern California. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Taylor Goldsmith has the passion of a true believer, and on first songs like “When My Time Comes” and “Love is All I Am,” there was no wiggle room. This youthful man was the new musical messiah. It also didn’t hurt recently when The Band’s Robbie Robertson used Dawes as his backing group for several national television appearances. Cred doesn’t come much stronger than that.
With Nothing Is Wrong, it’s time for Dawes to take it all the way home. These eleven songs feel like well-worn classics, full of dashed dreams and heavy hope, all played and sung with the intensity of born stars. It is an unmistakeable sound when that kind of greatness comes together, marking a rock & roll band where they find their groove and are able to fly. Whether it’s Crazy Horse or the Heartbreakers, there is something in the space between the notes when everything comes alive that lets things lift up off the ground.
Those kind of moments are all over this album. At times, it seems almost a fluke played by nature that such young musicians can reach this depth of feeling. But Dawes does over and over. Produced by studio wizard Jonathan Wilson, Dawes has written their name on the wall of musical winners and now it’s time for listeners to catch up. Everything is right on Nothing Is Wrong.
About Karen Young
