You know you’re in for a psychedelic music treat when an album opens with a track entitled “The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song Pt-1.” Recorded between the Dunes‘ home land of Australia and their part-time homeland of Texas, the psych-giants’ newest (and self-titled) record is a welcome addition to 2018 releases. I’m a longtime fan of the band, and learning this record was coming out this year was like getting an early birthday present.
The opening track mixes shoegaze guitar droning with desert wind synths and didgeridoo tones to put you in the right frame of mind without the need for any kind of of, ahem, enhancements. It will do the work for you. “When You Wake Up” then bursts into your brain like the sun coming through the window after a long night of partying. The reverbed vocals speak of either sleeping off a bad trip, putting the past behind you, or reincarnation (“When you wake up, it’ll be all right.”). It could be all three for all I know. Just let the wall of distortion wash over you.
Psychedelic surf guitars step up front and center on “Making Friends with Codeine.” It’s appropriately trippy and catchy as all get-out. The cleverly titled “(Just Because You’re Not Being Followed Doesn’t Mean You’re Not) Paranoid” reminds me of Black Angels‘ tracks in that it’s creepy, rocking, and mind-melting all at the same time.
“Mountain” is something the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would’ve created if they’d become a psychedelic rock band instead of an art-punk band. The tribal of drums of “New Old” drive the track for over seven minutes of powerful psychedelic rock complete with vintage keys and guitars that stomp their fuzz pedals into submission.
“It feels like the bottom of the sea,” Stacie Reeves sings on “WKNDS” – a track heavy and weird enough to be on your playlist while doing deep sea research on bioluminescent fish or color-shifting cephalopods. “Pariah” is nearly nine minutes and it’s a fine journey toward a desert sunset while walking alongside an Aboriginal shaman.
“The Intergalactic Drifters Inn Welcoming Center Theme Song Pt-II” closes the record, letting us know that our tour of the cosmos has come to a conclusion. The Dunes have taken you on a journey that is difficult to describe, but you know it was mind-altering while you were on it. Thankfully, you can take the journey anytime you want and will probably notice something different every time.
Keep your mind open.
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