Seraphina Lotkhamnga on June 8th, 2011

0

“These days my friends don’t seem to know me without my suitcase in my hand.” As Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes sings these opening lines of “Nothing Is Wrong” (out this week via ATO Records), the reflection of the band’s growth in just two short years can be heard in his tone. Transformed into seasoned musicians on the go, Dawes has come a long way from writing songs at home in Malibu.

After reviving the Laurel Canyon sound on their debut “North Hills,” Dawes gathered its gear and stopped in any city with open arms and ears. Their visits back home have been scarce, but it was on tour that they quickly discovered they thrived in a live setting.

• ||| Download: “If I Wanted Someone”

Even having negotiated their steep learning curve, the band has stayed humble. “If someone were to tell us [years ago] that we’d be backing Robbie Robertson, we wouldn’t have believed it. We feel very lucky,” Goldsmith says, reflecting on the evolution of a band that actually started some five years ago.

Dawes emerged from ashes of a band called Simon Dawes, which splintered when longtime friend Blake Mills parted ways in 2006. It took time for the band to regroup. With holdover Wylie Gelber, Goldsmith’s brother Griffin and Tay Strathairn both joined the band and charted a new course. “At the time, we were sad to part ways,” Goldsmith says. “But it hasn’t been too bad with the way things have ended up. We’re definitely grateful for the way things happened along with the fact that we can all co-exist with each other after sticking it out.”

“North Hills” (first self-released in 2009, then picked up by ATO) and its memorable single “When My Time Comes” (now omnipresent in a truck commercial) gained Dawes a solid fan base, and “Nothing Is Wrong” builds from that, offered sharply focused songs and pristine harmonies.

||| Stream: “Time Spent In Los Angeles”

Americana still courses through Goldsmith’s new tunes, but bluesy rock elements almost hush the folk flavors this time around. Head-strong perseverance naturally seeped into the follow-up album – so much that the band made an effort to record only on 2-inch analog tape. “We decided to record it that way so we could be on our toes, basically. When you know you’re going to have to be able to perform on a take, you know somebody won’t be saying, ”˜Do it the best you can, and we’ll just edit it later.’ It just dictates the intensity when you leave it to that,” Goldsmith explains.

Goldsmith’s time in Middle Brother (a group he formed with John McCauley of Deer Tick and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit) may also be responsible for the band’s new sense of drive. “The one thing I noted, especially about John of Deer Tick, is how much he writes,” Goldsmith says. “His approach to putting as much as possible out there has shown us how an artist creates a catalog. If there’s one thing I’m excited for when it comes to Dawes, it’s the body of work we can present to show what we’ve created.”

Since “Nothing Is Wrong” boasts songs that were written in the band’s spare time on tour, one can’t help but wonder if Dawes would ever take a good chunk of a year to just write at home. Says Goldsmith: “I think I would definitely get more writing done in L.A., but we would like to keep being out there.”

||| Live: Dawes plays June 18 at the Orpheum.