The good news is that L.S. Dunes’ coming together hasn’t turned out to be a momentary spark in time, or a relic to be preserved only in the deepest alternative lore. Pulling together members of My Chemical Romance, Circa Survive, Coheed & Cambria and Thursday, the supergroup’s gritty 2022 debut ‘Past Lives’ set in motion some unique tours and festival appearances, offering the chance to see Frank Iero and friends on the sort of small stages they have long outgrown in their day jobs.
While the biting post-hardcore of ‘Past Lives’ nodded towards L.S. Dunes’ roots, its follow up finds them choosing grace over angst. Opener Like Magick is a winding, partly a capella hymn of devotion, stately yet subtle at once.
Fatal Deluxe might be a point of its contrast, but frontman Anthony Green’s barbed screams still punch through a notably less jagged wall of guitars and his parting “shut up” is curiously docile.
It's different yet recognisable, even if there isn’t always a huge discrepancy between its peaks and its valleys. Given everything rumbles along at a fairly steady pace, ‘Violet’ might pass you by if you’re not fully locked in.
When they want to soar, though, L.S. Dunes truly soar. It’s in those moments when the record works. The title track waltzes along despite a sense of venom bubbling underneath. “The closure that I gave you, I regret it / You’re going to get what you deserve,” Green sings.
Its shining moment, however, is Paper Tigers, which smoulders in its verses before Green’s volcanic falsetto lifts the whole thing into something gorgeous. ‘Violet’ won’t grab anyone by the throat as ‘Past Lives’ did, but instead it throws light on the subtlety and versatility L.S Dunes are capable of.
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