Dunes – Land of the Blind
Release Date: 17th January 2025
Label: Ripple Music
Bandcamp
Genre: Stoner Rock, Desert Rock, Psychedelic Rock.
FFO: QOTSA, Psychlona, (the mighty) Kyuss, Elephant Tree, Lowrider.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Having recently been enlisted into the ranks of fuzz aficionados Ripple Music, Newcastle based stoner trio Dunes are out to impress with their ‘hard-hitting riffs, ear-worm melodies, and cranked-up, trip-tinged sounds of the 90s desert rock scene’.
Welcome to the Land of the Blind.
Don’t worry, you won’t need a map. Although the topography may occasionally vary from the dusty openness of Sky Valley to the gritty, industrial steel of a northern English town (Northern Scar), if you have any experience of those 90s bands, the landscape will be comfortingly familiar to you. The album deals with themes such as “anxiety, the passing of time, relationships and the general horrors of the outside world.” All channelled through the genre staples of thick grooves, softer, trippier moments and more psychedelic elements, particularly the vocal tone.
Speaking of vocals, there are a couple of notable guest appearances, Ryan Garney from High Desert Queen features on Voodoo, whilst Northern Scar see’s Newcastle post-punk outfit Crane’s Nick Carter dominate the second half of the track with a passionately caustic spoken word section.
A solid and engaging release, initially Land of the Blind seems to offer the listener the familiarity of returning to a much loved and much visited destination, only when you look closer does it become apparent that there are some subtle signposts pointing intriguingly down new avenues.
(3.5 / 5)
