By Erla Low
The Dunes are a band embracing their past. The recent re-release of Socializing w/life has given them a chance to do something increasingly rare in music–make an album that’s a delight from start to finish.
The strength and consistency is something to marvel at when the art of focusing on singles and ignoring coherence is ever-more-popular among mainstream artists. The lyrics are definitely the weak point of the album, but the strength of the music and the emotion in singer Kevin Pullen’s vocals override the nitpicking details. From the slow, melodic offerings such as “Sunflower Eyes” and “Lost” to the harder, more upbeat tracks like “Calling All Cars” and “Do It All The Time” the band shows off their versatility. Throughout the album, it’s evident the band cares about the songs they play and cares about making good music. It is an incredibly polished and put-together album for a debut effort, even a re-released one.
The Dunes are self-described followers of the song-is-king-school of songwriting. This idea was obviously in the forefront of the band’s collective mind when recording Socializing w/life. While relishing in the past has proven to be a good thing for The Dunes, hopefully their future offerings remain as competent.