Amen Dunes albums
Damon McMahon’s project is music made with a sense of great history. Like his biggest influence Van Morrison, the songs carry a sense of gravitas to them hammering the listener with heavy emotions even if it is not clear why through sometimes vague lyrics. His music has a psychedelic quality, but only because the background is left as a nuclear wasteland with debris scattered from the emotional bombs that were dropped. On his best songs, the patient listener will always be rewarded with a satisfying result and as a singer songwriter, he has made some of the greatest most impactful songs I have ever heard- “Dracula”, “Splits are Parted”, “White Lace”, “Miki Dora” among them.
Biggest Influences:
Van Morrison, Royal Trux, Tim Buckley, My Bloody Valentine, Holy Modal Rounders, The Bryds, Green on Red
Albums Chronologically:
2009 – 81% - DIA
2011 – 59% - Through Donkey Jaw
2014 – 93% - Love
2018 – 91% - Freedom
2009
DIA - 81%
The debut album starts off like a man possessed, the lo-fi nature and ramshackle quality make it a real treat for people accustomed to sloppy rock n roll. Even if that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, hang in there- a lot of this music is sublimely catchy and might end up growing on you. The project has a feel like early Royal Trux, some echoey guitars and vocal reverb so much you can barely understand it. “Amen dunes” establishes a man possessed, and in “In Caroline” he exorcises his demons in full. In “By The Bridal”, normal folk rock is approached, and “Patagonian Domes” does not sound quite like anything else of its time. ”Hauling the Dead” takes exactly from its song title, something the 60’s group The Holy Modal Rounders might enjoy. “Two Thousand Islands” is a remnant from the 1960’s psychedelic scene if I have ever heard one.
Above all, “White Lace” shows all the pretenders what truly psychedelic music can be with sound effects that add to the song rather than detract; as the song goes it just descends into madness and repetitive noises like something form MY Bloody Valentines Loveless album. Though slightly less successful, “Miami Beach” and “Fleshless Eshra Mira” are nice and drifty with no real center, but pleasant none the less. Only a couple of songs overstay their welcome, “Castles” and “No Shot” jump out to me as a bit of filler. Its all so disjointed and out there, like a man’s brain coming down from an acid trip. As a debut record its pretty brave to release this, with little hope of commercial potential but staying true to ones soul, and it became a launching point for a very interesting career.
Best Songs: White Lace, By the Bridal, Amen Dunes, Two Thousand Islands
2011
Through Donkey Jaw - 59%
This album is a retreat of sorts, way less noisy than the previous one while maintaining the chant heavy version of psychedelic folk music. The successes use this to their advantage, “Lower Mind” has a very hypnotic quality to it; “Bedroom Drum” might be his most distinguishable lyrics yet, where as “Chirstopher” is his most hummable melody. The ten minute “Tomorrow Never Knows” at the end of the record opens some interesting avenues for his brand of psych rock. This is definitely what Amen Dunes has going for him though are the emotional aspects of his music, and when he takes that away a lot of it is not quite worth the effort.
While there are other songs that reach out in a more conventional direction, not necessarily a bad thing: “Not a Salve” plods along with a naïve little melody, “Baba Yaga” is a cool little ditty sung in slow motion, “Good Bad dreams” has a sweet little warbly vocal approach worth hearing. Then there are some truly awful ideas: “1985” sounds like a strung-out bad bass solo, “Jill” lasts far too long for the noise ballad it is going for, ditto for “For All” and “Lezzy Head”. There is a lot of dreary, emotionless stuff to sift through here so its not recommended for anyone except the die hard Amen Dunes Fan, though there is a lot to enjoy.
Best Songs: Chirstopher, Lower Mind, Bedroom Drum, Tomorrow Never Knows
2013
Love - 93%
While there were several other high profile folk artists at work in the 2010's, no one has crafted an album quite as unique as Amen Dunes does on Love. The psychedelic aspects have an other worldly quality on songs like "Splits are Parted" which is one of the most gut-wrenching, best psych-folk songs of all time; the innocent "Lilac in Hand" comes straight out of 1960's raga; the longing of true love shine through on the rock n roll shuffle of "Lonely Richard" and the softer more wistful "I Know Myself". The soft quality of these songs are like touching a dense star in outer space and unlocking a secret of the universe; the listener feels transported just by listening. While the first half of the record is absolutely perfect, the second half is just about as good though it takes a more meandering approach, where sings such as “Green Eyes” and “Everyone” take a couple of listens to really sink in. The first half is someone pining for his lost love, the second half is the depression sinking in.
From his humble lo-fi debut on 2009's Dia, McMahon has grown so much as a songwriter. "Rocket Flare" is a soft tunic of a song, drifting along harmlessly but meaning so music with every beat. Towards the end, title track and "I Can't Dig It" are more raw versions of his art, kind of brief attacks on the fabric of reality itself trying to find another form of communication. The flow and content of the record could almost be viewed as a concept record about a disintegrating relationship, like a version of Richard Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights (1982) or Beck's Sea Change (2002) for the 2010’s decade. Love holds up well and is the pinnacle of his career so far. It is also a universal anthem to his fellow man, a giant in pillar in psychedelic folk-rock music and the folk album that we have been waiting for this decade.
Best Tracks: Splits Are Parted, Lonely Richard, Rocket Flare, I Can't Dig It
2018
Freedom - 91%
Amen Dunes exists on his own spectrum, project of Damon McMahon who has only released 4 records total in this decade-plus career. That is because each album is a fine-tuned work of beauty and craftsmanship, and Freedom is another solid release. The production has never been so clean and crisp, it is hard to believe this is the same person whose first album you could barley understand a word he was saying! There was a 4 year break between releases and I hope he doesn’t make us wait that long again! Two of the best songs Amen Dunes have ever made are present here: the soft-spoken and emotional climax present in “Miki Dora” is executed perfectly, a rare example of a prefect song that achieves what it is trying to do, worthy of the best of Van Morrison. It’s not too loud and not too showy.
Secondly there is the underrated “Dracula”, a song I have not been able to stop listening to since i heard it, a spooky sounding yearning for the meaning of life in a world that is constantly set to drain us; it is my vote for best rock song of the 2010s if not the whole of the 21st century so far. The album is full of folk-rock updated for the 2010’s like the pulsating “Time”, and the patient opener “Blue Rose”, the contemplative “Call Paul the Suffering”, and the brief “Saturdah”. “Skipping School” carries his moody quality from his early albums, but its more thought out and more distinctive. “Believe” radiates a kind of beauty that recalls the best in psych folk music, it’s almost a Joni Mitchell tune and that is a huge compliment. It all works brilliantly and each separate tune sucks you into a unique world where we become one with the universe. Though the last two songs end on a sort of hushed note, Freedom is a record that pushes Amen Dunes' sound forward and who knows where it will go from here.
Best Songs: Dracula, Miki Dora, Time, Skipping School