Stories Don't End

Dawes is the band that the children of '70s radio and singer/songwriters have been waiting for. Taylor Goldsmith sings with a warmth that catapults him to the front of the line of promising new musicians. Already likened to Jackson Browne and the mellow Laurel Canyon scene of the late '60s and early '70s, Dawes never fights the comparisons; the band soldiers on with songs that bring out its considerable talents. For Dawes' third album, 2013's Stories Don't End, the group wanders a bit from its roots. Despite, for example, "Most People" sounding like a top-shelf Jackson Browne song, its pedigree is closer to the '80s. For a classic ballad, "Something in Common" fulfills that role with a vibe that feels as if it's wafting through the doors of Doug Weston's Troubadour club and into the lonely L.A. night air. Literary folks will enjoy parsing the poetic lyrics, but most people will just roll down the windows and let "Bear Witness," "From the Right Angle," and "From a Window Seat" take their troubles away.