Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith returns to A.V. Undercover with Pulp's "Common People"

Season nine of A.V. Undercover has been part of a broader revival for The A.V. Club, so when we had the chance to bring back some of that sweet Laurel Canyon sound, we naturally said “Dawes.” 

Earlier this month, Taylor Goldsmith, one half of the folk rock act, joined us at an East Los Angeles haberdashery (note the snazzy hats and bow ties in the background). Although he was a late addition to the day’s lineup, Goldsmith was still able to pick a song that’s been influential on his own oeuvre of music: Pulp’s “Common People.” He told our publisher Josh Jackson why he was keen to have “the chance to revisit it and spend some time with it and learn it again,” whether it was on the piano or guitar. “Even though it came from this band, this unit, it felt like a Bob Dylan song or a Leonard Cohen song,” Goldsmith said. “It takes you on this huge journey where it builds this tension this whole time. I’ve studied it. I would write songs trying to adopt the same structure, and I would really just try to figure out how this thing worked.” 

Along with Dawes, season nine has also seen the return of GWAR amid newer faces like Ducks Ltd. and IAN SWEET. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we will have to cut this season a bit short. But we still have some great covers lined up, which we’ll be sharing in the coming weeks, and we’ll be back with a full season of Undercover in 2025. We’ll put out a call for song suggestions soon, but let us know in the comments what you’d like to see, er, hear in the landmark 10th season of A.V. Undercover.