Dawes – “Nothing Is Wrong”
Ato Records
-out today
2.5 / 5
We’re still reeling from brilliant folk collaboration Middle Brother which, we admit, led us to Dawes. Taylor Goldsmith’s performance as 1/3 of Brother is certainly one of his finest (“Blood and Guts,” “Wilderness”) and now that we’ve calmed down from getting the Los Angeles band’s second full-length, that opening, “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” is certainly… definitely… something of a letdown. “Nothing Is Wrong” feels too complacent, too placid, especially in light of Goldsmith’s serious vocal chops displayed earlier this year. Lyrically, Dawes is hit-or-miss, but our biggest complaint comes from Goldsmith himself, who doesn’t stretch himself out on these vocals. And we know he can definitely belt one out (did we already mention “Blood and Guts?”). Yeah, we still like “Million Dollar Bill” on this one, and it certainly is written well, but even there, we’ve got to say Middle Brother caught him at the right place, right time; “Nothing Is Wrong” just seems to have caught him tired and off-guard. Take a pass.