One could easily see Dune Blue’s gentle psychedelic odes to groovy laidback-itude finding favor with tie-dyed-slash-Hawaiian-shirt types ranging from Deadheads to Parrotheads to Sublime stans (RIP Bradley) meaning that card-carrying punk purists may be disinclined to check them out…
…but let’s face it, you probably got that dubious punk ID from a ad on on the back of a box of Cocoa Puffs cuz I’m guessing you weren’t hanging out outside CBGBs in 1976 or even in 1996 (more likely you were hanging out in your delinquent brother’s bedroom ripping bong hits while listening to his cassingle of “Santeria” on repeat if you were around in ’96 at all) not to mention Sonny the Cuckoo Bird is clearly a beatnik/burner type more inclined to Country Joe and the Fish than to Crass or Chaos UK but I digress…
…the point being that every generation needs and deserves its own Edie Brickell and New Bohemians in other words a band that bring some needed edge and eccentricity to genres too often sanded down to a dull edge by lazy imitators and Dune Blue (led by one Roland Mounier) fits the bill perfectly seeing as how they infuse legit grit into their otherwise medium roast blend of pastoral psych, easy skanking reggae and no-static-at-all Steely-Dan-esque smooth jazziness…
…which first became apparent after catching Dune Blue live a little while back and now it’s become even more apparent with the release of their latest single “Breaks My Brain” with it’s dub-inflected, reverb-laden, hazy-shade-of-late-summer vibe that perfectly puts across the song’s title phrase with woozy, wah-wah-pedal assisted atmospherics where all the sounds appear to melt together into one eternal sound…
…not to mention the little saxophone squiggles lurking around the edges and the little pools of shimmering, reverberating runoff hovering around every sonic surface which I’m thinking may relate to the song’s lyrical content and its fixation on flimsy permeable surfaces (using my way through a cellophane scene / losing my touch / recognize no reflection / cracks in the surface of a membrane dream)…
…surfaces prone to breakage when they’re placed under too much pressure (keep it up in a rush / I'll end up in pieces) but here’s the thing about “Break’s My Brain” it makes this breakage sound like not entirely a bad thing and maybe even a good thing if you believe that nothing ever gets fixed properly until it gets broken properly (what breaks my brain / fills the space) just like Marxists who subscribe to implosion theory…
…and it’s a lesson I’ve taken to heart lately in the midst of muddling through a major life transition plus the notion of “no cure, no blame” is an oddly comforting one so if you’re inclined give the good vibrations of Dune Blue’s “Breaks My Brain” a try not only because of intriguing nuances under the surface but also cuz the surface itself provides a measurable measure of solace in these turbulent times--just be forewarned you may take to wearing bucket hats and making statements along the lines of “excuse me while I light this spliff” if you listen for too long on repeat. (Jason Lee)
