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Friday Full-Length: The Dunes, The Dunes

Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Bookended with droning resonances given the Douglas Adams-esque titles ‘The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song Pt. 1’ and ‘…Pt. 2,’ the self-titled debut full-length from Adelaide, Australia’s The Dunes indeed offers its own kind of welcome. Oak Island Records and Off the Hip Records released the album from the six-piece outfit in Oct. 2018, and it arrived some seven years after their first two-songer EP, 2011’s Going Under, with a songs like “When You Wake Up” and “Mountain” dating back two or three years already at that point, having been released either as singles or as part of other short or live releases. A while in the making, then. Fair enough.

For what it’s worth, The Dunes‘ time does not seem to have been misspent in finding their way. To dig back through their Bandcamp page to Going Under is to find a still echoey but more indie-minded outfit. Stacie Reeves‘ vocals remain duly ethereal, but one can hear the context shifting already on 2012’s Between Midnight and Dawn as a song like “Lunar Effect” stretches over eight minutes and willfully engages a more lysergic feel. The Dunes, in that regard, goes all in, a cut like the three-minute “(Just Because You’re Not Being Followed Doesn’t Mean You’re Not) Paranoid” delving into psychedelic boogie with the clear percussive punctuation of Clair O’Boyle giving the listener rhythmic landmarks amid the sundry melodies of guitarist Matt Reiner, keyboardist Jess Honeychurch, and synthesist Brett Walter. It’s not as much of a stretch into the far out as “Mountain,” which follows, but there it’s bassist Adam Vanderwerf holding to a grounded feel amid so much right-on-can-your-brain-even-handle-it-of-course-it-can-come-on-baby-let’s-do-this-together swirl, though all parties seem to let go as that song stretches past seven minutes en route to the sitar-or-guitar-as-sitar-inclusive “New Old.”

Maybe it seems like a long way from post-intro leadoff “When You Wake Up” by the time you get there, that song with a more prevalent hook from Reeves delivered in layers over a standout organ line and backing waves of languid rolling distortion, but with the more forceful strum of “Making Friends with Codeine” and the aforementioned shuffler along the way which reminds by New York-regionalist ears of Naam‘s space rocking glories — not that there isn’t an entire Aussie cosmos the dunes the dunesof space rock for them to draw inspiration from — The Dunes do well in throwing open the doors of expectation as they shift from one song to the next, one arrangement aspect, one riff, one procession, whatever it may be at that given moment, all while letting the whole be defined by those changes and the vocals that sometimes sit atop or sometimes come from underneath, the spaciousness of tonality in John McNichol‘s recording and Brett Orrison‘s mix/master allowing these whims and others to be served in such a manner that, by the time “Mountain” hits its peak (pun absolutely intended), the surge is one more welcome advent among the many.

After “New Old” pushes over and caps with more sitar drift, a cover of Melbourne trio Buried Feather‘s “WKNDS” follows, and it would be a moment of touching-solid-ground were the central riff and flow of the thing not so damn hypnotic. Still, it is more guitar-led, if not actually straightforward, and a shorter departure from the pairing of “Mountain” and “New Old,” which makes it seem all the more purposefully placed ahead of “Pariah,” the longest inclusion at an oozing eight minutes and 46 seconds. It has a build happening, and a crescendo accordingly, but it is neither overdone payoff nor a gentle letting go. The pre-midpoint verses feel constructed as a lyrical showcase, and the break to near silence at 4:19, setting up their final push. And it is a payoff, mind you, it just doesn’t feel forced. It is one more moment in which The Dunes push forward while holding melody and atmosphere as crucial, and the letting-go happens as they shift into “The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song, Pt. 2,” that last drone finishing out on a fade to cap the record’s nine-track/50-minute entirety.

I’ll admit I’m just getting to know The Dunes‘ The Dunes, though I managed to post about it when they signed to Oak Island, and further, it was a misplaced tag on social media earlier this week — a UK band of the same name is playing a fest in Sweden; you either would or wouldn’t be shocked how often that kind of thing happens to me — but the combination of elements in its songs, with the keys varied and the synth coming and going, the various guitar effects and flowing groove that ensues, help make a more than favorable initial impression. The band hit Levitation in Austin, Texas, in 2019 as Reeves joined Melbourne’s User on stage, and of course did various shows in and around Australia to support the self-titled’s release. They even managed to book a date in Nov. 2020, which is an impressive achievement in itself, but it didn’t come to fruition. Such is the way of noble intentions in this time of plague.

Australia, as I understand it, is currently under pretty strict lockdown as well, and reasonably so, but The Dunes got a rehearsal in last month. I’ve no idea if they have new material in the works or how they’ve spent their pandemic other than what I’ve seen on their socials, all of which one can link to through their Bandcamp. In any case, these nine tracks have plenty to offer if you’re looking to get out of your own head for a few minutes, staying classy in melodic intention even as they deep-dive into the heart of whatever color sun it might be shining on the Southern Hemisphere of such a wretched planet. Lavender purple? I’m sure they’ll play another show someday. If they want to, I’m sure they’ll do another record — or maybe an EP; The Dunes arrived after several of those — but in the interim, for an album that I bumped into in kind of a dopey way, it’s been an engaging happenstance, and shit, I’m glad I got to hear it one way or the other.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

Uh, it… rained this week. Like, as a defining feature of the week. And over 40 people died in the NY region. Floods closed roads, people lost power and a whole bunch of people were like, “yup that’s climate change” because yup, that’s climate change. New Jersey gets tornados now. That kind of crap never used to happen here.

My wife’s mother came down from Connecticut on Wednesday to visit and got stuck yesterday owing to road closures, forcing her to shift plans. Not a hardship to have her by any means — she and The Patient Mrs. opened a nice bottle of wine and The Pecan loves her dearly and so do I — but it was kind of like, “well, now what?” on the day. As far as I go, it was a highlight of my week. The kid was in a great mood all day, used enough energy to take a nap, and I could leave the room to do dishes or — amazingly, take out my laptop without being assaulted — because there was another pair of eyes in the house to watch him and another giver-of-responses to keep him engaged. It’s when you stop paying attention that shit goes off the rails with him lately. He’s like, “Oh you’re not looking at me right now? Well, if you need me I’ll be climbing the window.” Which he does. Constantly.

Plus her dog is here, so that’s even less of an emergency for her to head back north. I took a nap yesterday afternoon as well, and slept until 5AM to start the day. Since I started pushing back to waking up at 4AM to work, which I did the rest of this week, including today, I’d forgotten how it felt with that extra time. I was ready to conquer the universe at 6PM last night, though I was still in bed by 8:30, so you can see how far that went.

I’m going to see King Crimson this weekend, which is a thing I’ve never done before. They’re playing an outdoor amphitheater here in New Jersey and I feel like with that and masked I’m reasonably comfortable being there. For a once-in-a-lifetime show, I’ll make it happen. And The Patient Mrs. is coming, so that’s a bonus. I’ve been looking forward to it and am of course apprehensive at the same time. But The Pecan also starts school next week, so that will be a back-to-earthly thing as well. As soon as Delta hits NJ though they’re gonna go remote. Or approve child vaccinations. Something has to give there and I suspect we’ll find out what by like November.

Today is a new The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal. 5PM. The Eric Wagner tribute. By that time I expect to be waist deep in spaghetti squash in vodka sauce with slow-cooker pulled chicken, veggie sausage and a mountain of romano cheese, but I’ll be checking in on the chat as well. Thanks if you listen. http://gimmeradio.com.

Monday, that King Crimson review. Then premieres across the week for Scarecrow, Crystal Spiders, The Misery Men and TarLung, in that order. At some point in there I’ll have the interview I did the other day with Blackwater Holylight’s Sunny Faris up as well. It was not an hour long, if that makes you any more inclined to watch it than either the Sons of Alpha Centauri or Fuzz Sagrado chats. Here’s hoping.

Great and safe weekend. Stay hydrated. If you do the Labor Day thing, enjoy the day off. I’ll be back on Monday with more shenanigans because I believe if you want to honor labor, stop outlawing unions. Also fuck Texas, while we’re on politics for a moment.

That’s all. Have fun. Watch your head.

FRM.

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