Unlike most months you can think of, June belonged to two songs, Dawes “All Your Favorite Bands” and Titus Andronicus’ “Fatal Flaw”. The former is easily their best song, a genius benediction to a former love and the latter was so good it made the brilliant “Dimed Out” sound like an also ran. If these don’t end up in the top five singles of the year, I assure they will be in the top ten.
The album is a break up special, and it is good and if it had a few more songs it might venture into great land, but the first single “Right On Time” is all that’s wrong here: it is well played but mushy, a tasteful drag and that’s Dawes problem: they are a tasteful drag. And three songs does not an album make
Things Happen – Dawes – This is meant to be the introduction to a very very big album, and it might be and it might take a coupla spins to introduce itself in any real way, but an early listen shows a well played not very good song, a touch oversung – B-
‘Florida Key’ is one of these tracks, and it seems to me that the project is part too-ambitious, part already-doomed … how can you possibly adapt a lost, abandoned Dylan song? isn’t Dylan totally untouchable? absolutely iconic?
Played with Bright eyes-y full throttle intensity, plus horns, plus back up singers, plus two girls on guitar, plus Conor emoting the holy fuck out of them, they supercharged the evening. I didn’t like the horns on “Hundreds Of Ways on the recorded version, but it worked here and the three song opening did something Conor didn’t quite do at Carnegie Hall a couple of years ago, it grew him up without changing him.
I have been disappointed in Conor Oberst for years now and the last two times I’ve seen him live I’ve not been thrilled. It is six years since I caught him at the tiny “Other Music” and longer still since his residency at the Town Hall. So Conor at Summerstage on Tuesday: why is it a pick of the week? Because it’s Conor Oberst, that’s why.
Far be it for me to mock the afflicted, but this line up is painful just to read , let alone see. My Morning Jacket peaked in 2008 and Dawes, War On Drugs, and, oh god no, Dr. Dog, might peak one of these days, we don’t really know. The only name that excites me here is Biz Markie, and really I think I’ve heard “Just A Friend” live once or twice before.
The first time I heard many of their songs, I was so enchanted by the sweet and clever lyrics, but after hearing the song multiple times, I started to feel like I really didn’t like it as much as I’d originally thought.
