New Music Tuesday: The Tenth – Dunes [Album]

Loud. Abrasive. Fucking brilliant. In just about 30 seconds of listening, these were my initial thoughts of Dune. And that sentiment held true throughout the amazing listening experience that we should come to expect from a band like The Tenth. They refer to themselves as “bubblegum punk”, which if self-inflicted, seems accurate and okay. But, in all actuality, this is a fun group that is punk as fuck, yet also melodic at times, with a primal energy that is absolutely mesmerizing. While vocalists Harley Quinn Smith and Taylor Blackwell have a snappy tone that pops at exactly the right moments over brilliant guitar riffs, I feel that the “bubble gum” effect is minimal at best. I usually don’t care to make comparisons to other groups, but seeing as though they are a staple here at Trainwreck’d Society, I will just go ahead and say that I love this group as much as I love our dear friends at Tacocat. And while there are obvious differences between them, I will say that I would truly love to catch a bill that involved them together. As well as Portland’s Forever. What a fucking roster that would be, right?

At certain points throughout Dunes, it does honestly become less abrasive and a bit more melodic (as sort of mentioned before, in a roundabout way) with tracks like “I’ll Go When It’s My Time”. But the forthrightness and fuck it all energy is a ever-present, no matter how much they decide to slow down the tempo to prove a point on one of their brilliantly written tracks. The very quick but very impactful “I Saw A Ghost” is the obvious single, and a very good representation of the band as a whole, and I am very happy that they chose it as the the lead off track. But I will be fucked if I don’t acknowledge the incredible stick work of Kelly Cruz on the entire album, but specifically on “Hymns and Hieroglyphs”. And the amazing guitar work (especially that damn intro!) from Blackwell and Eden Hain on “Stop Pretending the Song’s Not About Me” is pure magic.

Lastly, I absolutely adore how the incredible artists that are The Tenth seem to be absolutely in love with the word “fuck”. It fucking screams throughout the entire album. It’s contagious, really. I’ve probably written the word “fuck” in this piece more than anything I have written before. The Tenth did that. That is some pretty inspirational stuff in itself, right? In all seriousness though, this is such an incredible album that you simply have to check out. It is fun, it is thoughtful, and a wonderful reminder of the power of what youthful angst can give to the world of music.

Dune is available now wherever you stream or buy (please do that) music. Check out this wonderful video for “I Saw A Ghost” right here: