It still feels impossible that that Passwords is already Dawes’ sixth record. Isn’t this a new band of roots-rock underdogs waving the Laurel Canyon flag and singing bittersweet nostalgia over crackling guitars? Nope—and with Passwords , the Los Angeles-based quartet has settled nicely into a role as scene elders, with the music following suit. The album is full of steady, worn-in rock grooves, worldwise lyrics and an intimate studio sound that welcomes in listeners on the first spin. The album’s only real rocker is its opener, “Living in the Future,” which tears open the record with a jagged, cranked-up riff and plunges forward with heavy percussion. When frontman Taylor Goldsmith howls on the chorus: “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout forever, how ‘bout just getting through the night?” it’s clear that he’s as uncertain about living in the future as the rest of us. From there, Passwords’ fire burns down to beautiful, warm embers that sustain fans through the evening, with pianodriven story songs leading the way. “Feed the Fire” sparks with a snaking guitar groove and the twinkling keys of late addition Lee Pardini, and Goldsmith questioning the toll of life in the spotlight: “How could I look so perfect on the screen and so awful in the mirror?” Passwords smooths out those wriggling grooves of 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die to create Dawes’ most mature and self-realized sound yet, zeroing in on their strengths to reveal genuine treasures. As Goldsmith sings on the cosmic rock tune “Telescope,” “The stronger the telescope, the more stars there are.”