music
Dawes’ West Coast
Americana
Dawes is a band from Los Angeles in every
sense of the place. They sound like Crosby,
Stills, Nash, & Young, CCR or some other
displaced southern blues-rock band. Their best
shows and fan base are found in Minneapolis,
Minn. (that is, not in L.A.), and they continually
strive for something more than the hot, dry
asphalt and smog of their home city. They do
not seem like the speedball-burnout musicians
of other L.A. bands.
The soft acoustic guitar of “Take Me Out
of the City” provides a backdrop as singer
Taylor Goldsmith drones on about escaping
the confi nes of an urban environment
not conducive to easy breathing or even
true love, saying “Take me out of the city /
Where God’s never been / Where my soul is
my sorrow / And it’s bound by my skin.” On
other tracks, Goldsmith’s voice dubs a John
Fogerty twang over what could easily be
seen as Wilco’s Americana-inspired guitar
riffs. Dawes is revitalizing Laurel Canyon
(birthplace of CSN&Y) in a manner unlike
your average Southern California band. Their
music draws from a pining for the country
and the members, who are between the ages
of 19 and 24, h ave obviously been inspired
by the place’s historically rich music scene.
Conor Oberst, The Black Crowes and Wilco all
come to mind when listening to Dawes, and
that’s not too outlandish considering these
youngsters have collaborated with all three.
Dawes and Jonny Corndawg play at 7 pm
Wednesday, Jan. 26, at John Henry’s. 21+. $10
adv., $13 door. — Andrew Hitz
Hunger and Thirst
CHRISTINA VENDITTI
Sean Rowe
All Hail Creepy Country
On Saturday, Sam Bond’s Garage calls
together its congregation to worship at the
altar of country songs about murder, rock and
roll that twangs, gothic Americana and gospel
music that is more evil than holy.
The sermon will be presided over by Sean
Rowe and the Handsome Family. Rowe’s Anti-
Records debut Night is out Feb. 22. Hailing
from Albany, N.Y., Rowe sings creepy tales in
a bass/baritone voice that recalls the stillness
of American Recordings-era Johnny Cash and
the mysterious voodoo of Nick Cave or Tom
Waits. His music is so atmospheric there’s a
country mile from one note to the next.
The Handsome Family are indie-country
veterans. Formed in 1993, the husband-and-
wife duo draws inspiration from American
folk, traditional murder ballads and classic
country. Mixing male and female vocals, their
songs rise to Waylon Jennings-like levels of
honky-tonk but also withdraw into quiet folk
balladry. Lyrically, they can at times be morbid
and macabre, dealing in subject matter like
the life and death of Amelia Earhart and
Natalie Wood.
This will not be a night to wear your
dancing shoes, or to share a beer with friends
while the bands play in the background. This
will be a night to listen intently to dark and
compelling storytelling and songwriting — to
listen to country music that isn’t afraid to
sound (heaven forbid) like country music, but
isn’t limited by that sound either. Sean Rowe
and the Handsome Family play at 9:30 pm
Saturday, Jan. 22, at Sam Bond’s Garage. $10.
21+. — William Kennedy
How will Typhoon fi t on stage at Sam Bond’s? The Portland band — a group I want to call “orchestral” in large part because little
else stands a chance at suggesting their elaborate, impassioned, dynamic sound — fi lled PDX’s Someday Lounge’s stage nearly to
overfl owing last fall, their stirring late-night set the perfect way to close an evening spent roaming, unsettled, from place to place.
There are, according to the band’s bio, seven core members of Typhoon, but 19 people are listed on their MySpace page. That’s a lot
of voices raised behind singer-songwriter Kyle Morton. Morton’s voice has an occasionally tremulous, emotionally agonized tone that
sits neatly in opposition to the bright horns and goes hand in hand with the elegant, building-and-crashing structure of Typhoon’s
songs. The band’s 2010 album, Hunger and Thirst, begins with Morton saying, “I’ve started a new beginning / Suspiciously like the old
one / Only this time I’m ready.” Hope and fear mingle with enthusiasm and remorse, and different snippets of lyrics — fl ashes of story,
disconcerting images — stand out with each listen. The nearly seven-minute “CPR - Claws Part 2” sprawls across a wordless singalong,
rich harmonies and Morton’s nervous, compelling voice: “I am no god-fearing man, but I am afraid / of something I cannot quite explain”
he sings before the band takes the song apart and builds it back up again, swift and sure. The pieces are sturdy, the indie rock tropes
familiar — the expansive band, the multi-instrumental arrangements, the repeating lines and fi rst-person soul-baring — but the resulting
sound crosses strange boundaries, especially live, late at night, where one carefully delivered line can send the hairs on your neck right
up, over and over again. Typhoon, Ages and Ages and Brainstormers play at 9:30 pm Friday, Jan. 21, at Sam Bond’s Garage. 21+. $7.
— Molly Templeton
Preppy Pop from Ra Ra
Perky, string-fl ecked, sweet and utterly (and refreshingly) devoid of irony, Ra Ra Riot’s songs ask for cardigans and neatly pressed
pants, beach houses and nicely groomed lawns. The Syracuse, N.Y.-based quintet plays a kind of indie chamber pop that’s preppy and
safe — not that there’s anything wrong with that.
On The Orchard, the band’s second album for Barsuk Records (y’know, where Death Cab for Cutie once released records), ’80s
synths shimmer at times, and the contrast between sweeping violin and complicated percussion marks the boundaries within which
singer Wes Miles’ earnest voice roams. The relatively energetic fi rst single, “Boy,” bops along neatly, every player taking his or her turn
as layers build for the chorus. “Too Dramatic,” harmony-laden and bouncy, is a highlight, but “Massachussetts” stumbles, too drawn-out
and directionless. It’s easy to like Ra Ra Riot, but The Orchard is hard to love. Pop this high-gloss runs the risk of being too precise
and too structured to emotionally resonate with listeners. Pristine, tidy and sincere, The Orchard is bright and admirable,
but missing some of the intensity that powered The Rhumb Line, Ra Ra Riot’s 2008 release. It isn’t a misstep,
but a stepping stone, a place between here and there. Still, it’s more than worth sticking around to see
where there winds up being for this young band. Ra Ra Riot, Givers and Pepper Rabbit play at
8 pm Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the WOW Hall. $12 adv., $15 door. — Molly Templeton
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