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Death Jokes, Amen Dunes

Death Jokes, Amen Dunes

Beyond Life Of Brian, death jokes seldom bring good vibrations. Damon McMahon, aka Amen Dunes, knows all about that. And while his new album Death Jokes is no barrel of laughs, it does offer a sort of spiritual catharsis. It’s profound and elusive, and it’ll wash over you like a breaker. Amen Dunes started out in 2006 but first made waves in 2018, with his fourth album Freedom. Groovy yet roomy, its loose surf melodies were refreshingly cool. Now, they sound positively Spartan compared with Death Jokes’ fuzzy wave of phase. Songs like Boys and Purple Land are still hugely melodic, but suddenly the channels got crowded – their frequencies tuned somewhere between stations, picking up snatches of whatever passes by. The masterpiece here is a nine-minute missive fittingly titled Round The World. When it achieves lift-off, it sounds like Lean On Me – but for when the rapture comes.


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