Comprised of Stephanie Chan (vocals, guitar), a former member of Finally Punk and The Carrots; Kate Hall (drums), formerly of Mika Miko; Mark Greshowak (guitar, synths), formerly of Talbot Tagora; and Dave Reichardt (guitar, bass, synths), Los Angeles, CA-based post-punk quartet Dunes features members of some of Southern California’s most renowned, defunct punk bands. The band’s soon-to-be released sophomore effort Bitter Charm will be released later this week, and the album reportedly has the band expanding upon their sound while being deeply informed by personal experiences — in particular, Mark Greshowak’s near fatal bike accident, which occurred the same day that they were slated to play a huge show with No Age at the Eagle Rock Center for Performing Arts. As Greshowak explains in press notes, the album in some way represents “the process of coming to terms with all transitions in life, voluntarily or involuntarily.”
Bitter Charm‘s latest single “Runner” pairs shimmering guitars played through gentle amount of reverb, a driving and propulsive rhythm with ethereal vocals to craft a melancholy and wistful song that sounds as though it could have been released during 4AD Records heyday.
Interestingly, the recently released music video for “Runner” strikes me as being fittingly suited for the 120 Minutes MTV-era music videos as it employs a surreal and dream-like logic. The video follows the band’s frontperson Stephanie Chan as she runs across Los Angeles and encounters some rather weird people and situations. This is split with footage of the band rehearsing/performing the song in a garage, replicating what would have been the band members’ earliest days as musicians and artists.