Review: Violet by L.S Dunes
Modern rock supergroup turned active and touring band L.S Dunes combines the talents of several classic post-hardcore and ‘emo’ figures: frontman Anthony Green of Circa Survive, guitarist Frank Lero of My Chemical Romance, drummer Tucker Rule and bassist Tim Payne of Thursday, and finally guitarist Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria. The band is a new creative outlet for its highly talented members, rather than a replica of their past successes.
Their debut album “Past Lives” was an energetic post-hardcore masterpiece with some punk influence, giving their future work a lot to live up to. Their sophomore album, “Violet” carries a much more mature and ambient sound, beginning with the slow calmness of “Like Magick.” While the song doesn’t stick out by itself, it serves well to ease the listener into the album. It seamlessly transitions into the attention-grabbing lead single “Fatal Deluxe.” The track starts with bold guitar and screaming vocals from Green, whose sometimes hypnotic and at other times aggressive voice shines throughout the entirety of this high-energy song.
The title track tricks the listener into thinking it’s a love song with its slow dragging of both vocal notes and guitar chords, while the lyrics describe a pain of betrayal, with lines like “the moment I forgave you, I regretted it.” The way Green slowly sings the post-chorus line, “you’re gonna get what you deserve,” is addictive.
The beautiful contrast within the song ‘Violet’ makes the rest of the album disappointing. After only the fourth track, the songs start sounding strikingly similar to each other. “You Deserve To Be Haunted” had initial potential with its striking and unusual guitar, however, this is lost not too far into the song. The first thought when listening to the beginning of ‘Holograms’ is how much it sounds like “Machines,” and the biggest culprit there is the distorted and loud bass. Despite that one aspect, the tone and flow of the six final songs seldom differ from each other, as if they were all made from the same formula.
The band’s 2023 singles “Old Wounds” and “Benadryl Subreddit” seemed to have indicated a promising future for the band, but ‘Violet’ is underwhelming. Even without considering their exceptional previous work, the similar sounding songs are hard to get over, making the album feel rushed.
