Amen Dunes

Love (Sacred Bones)
10/20

Sacred Bones have released some of our favourite records over the last few years, and the third album from Amen Dunes – an industrially influenced, solo project of former Inouk member Damon McMahon – should be an exciting prospect.

The album opens with the typically swirling White Child and while it teems and builds with anticipatory atmosphere, it fails to reach a climax, coming across more like an understandably forgotten Oasis B-side than an acoustic Throbbing Gristle.

Many of the following tracks follow the same formula, churning two chord acoustic guitar patterns distract from McMahons potentially interesting glitch noises, loops and psych-influenced experimentation. Sixteen brings some well executed harmonies and a piano loop that provides a welcome break from the repetitive guitar based structure.

At the tail end of the record, I Can Dig It recalls Strawberry Jam-era Animal Collective and is almost worth getting excited about until it starts to feel just a little too messy to really dig. Love is an OK record, and there are a couple of moments that appeal to us, but it’s hard to really muster up a great deal of enthusiasm for a record that seems to lack enthusiasm for itself.

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Words: Billy Black