Dawes - North Hills

  by Carl Bookstein

published: 23 / 6 / 2012

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

In our 'Re:View' section, in which our writers look back at classic albums from the past, Carl Bookstein examines Los Angeles-based folk rock band Dawes' 2009 debut album 'North Hills', which has recently been re-released

Soothing folk rock sounds emanate from Dawes’ 2009 debut album 'North Hills', which is currently being re-released. This is music well suited for kicking back on your porch on a summer’s day - homegrown and comfortable. Dawes’ first record 'North Hills' is an ode to the band’s hometown of Los Angeles. Here lead singer and songwriter Taylor Goldsmith grew up with Dawes drummer and brother Griffin. The band also includes Tay Strathairn and Wylie Gelber. Dawes rest squarely within the lineage of the storied Laurel Canyon sound of L.A.’s history including such folk rock stalwarts as Crosby, Stills and Nash. Dawes’ rootsy blend of folk rock and Americana also evokes the sounds of such classic 1960's and 1970's artists as The Band. The fine debut album 'North Hills' showcases the signature song 'When My Time Comes'- a track which positively glistens. The soul stirring chorus hits home every time as the lyric “when my time comes” repeats. The album opener 'That Western Skyline' is likewise polished and moving. The song starts with a lone acoustic guitar and Taylor Goldsmith’s easy vocal. An organ segues in as Goldsmith sings about crashed dreams and Western horizons: “My dreams did not come true/They only came apart.” Band’s influence can be clearly heard here. It is definitely appropriate that Dawes recently backed up Band guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson on some of his solo dates. With lyrical images of sunsets and wildfires, the song 'Love Is All I Am' speaks to the divine power of love. 'Give Me Time' wraps a folk rock blanket around you at a campfire. 'When My Time Comes', the album centrepiece is a song rich in its rewards - as good a song as Dawes has written thus far: “You can stare into the abyss, but it’s staring right back.” 'God Rest My Soul' philosophizes about the divine and pain and suffering that “too shall pass.” 'Take Me Out of the City' speaks to the call of the mountains: “Let me breathe in the morning/Let my way be my home.”

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