Misadventures Of Doomscroller

With 2022's [wimpLink albumId="237976390"]Misadventures of Doomscroller[/wimpLink], [wimpLink artistId="3985208"]Dawes[/wimpLink] have crafted one their shortest and tightest albums to date that also happens to be one of their most enjoyably experimental. Produced with longtime associate [wimpLink artistId="3795574"]Jonathan Wilson[/wimpLink], the record is a brief at seven tracks. Of course, two of those songs -- the opening "Someone Else's Cafe/Doomscroller Tries to Relax" and the closing "Sound That No One Made/Doomscroller Sunrise" -- are over-nine-minute epics, in which the band punctuate singer [wimpLink artistId="5360144"]Taylor Goldsmith[/wimpLink]'s poetic lyrics with jazzy guitar solos and fusion-esque instrumental sections. It's a vibe that evokes the proggy 1970s style of [wimpLink artistId="14143"]Steely Dan[/wimpLink] without losing any of the emotive, singer/songwriter pathos that marked the best of their past work. As with 2020's [wimpLink albumId="156497735"]Goodluck with Whatever[/wimpLink], there's a sense that [wimpLink artistId="5360144"]Goldsmith[/wimpLink] and his bandmates are still ruminating on the troubled state of the world and seeking refuge in small pleasures. On "Doomscroller Tries to Relax," [wimpLink artistId="5360144"]Goldsmith[/wimpLink] sings, "So, let's enjoy each other's company on the brink of our despair." This palpable blend of experimental rock and philosophically introspective songwriting continues throughout [wimpLink albumId="237976390"]Misadventures of Doomscroller[/wimpLink]. We get the [wimpLink artistId="1134"]Fleetwood Mac[/wimpLink]-style guitar arpeggiations of "Comes in Waves" and the bluesy, barroom kinetics of "Ghost in the Machine." On the latter, [wimpLink artistId="5360144"]Goldsmith[/wimpLink] underlines the existential dread at the core of the album, singing, "All the doubts and hesitations/I built up in my early years/Are under reconsideration/Through the music of the spheres." In some ways, [wimpLink artistId="3985208"]Dawes[/wimpLink]' stylistic explorations here feel akin to how their similarly inclined contemporaries [wimpLink artistId="13971"]Wilco[/wimpLink] also profoundly expanded their sound with 2001's [wimpLink albumId="3756720"]Yankee Hotel Foxtrot[/wimpLink]. Thankfully, all of [wimpLink albumId="237976390"]Misadventures of Doomscroller[/wimpLink] feels relaxed and organic to where [wimpLink artistId="3985208"]Dawes[/wimpLink] find themselves eight albums into their career. ~ Matt Collar