Live Review: The Dunes, The Howling Fog

It's a cold and rainy Friday night in Adelaide. A perfect night to be indoors, sinking a couple reds and getting out of this cold, shitty weather. Also perfect for some dark tunes from a couple of local acts. The dimly lit Grace Emily Hotel proves to be the ideal location for this.

First up are The Howling Fog, who are no strangers to The Grace Emily stage, having poured out their version of shoegaze-tinged psych-rock here many times. Vocalist Peter Blunden could only front a band of this calibre. His deep, dulcet tones fill the cosy back room, while the fuzzy guitars scrawl hypnotically along.

With only one four-track EP in their repertoire, the semi-packed room witnesses a mix of old but mainly new songs, including an instrumental called E-Shand. Although tonight's version only went for four minutes, chatting to the band afterwards they mentioned there's a 30-minute recorded version! The interesting thing about The Howling Fog is no two sets are the same. Clearly a band that like to experiment, playing live they refine the guitars and the drums and somehow make the tracks hauntingly better.

The Dunes are playing a five-week residency at The Grace Emily and this is night number two. The Dunes and The Howling Fog are a match made in psych-rock heaven. While the latter are a bit darker and haunting, The Dunes are inspired by the '60s psych sound.

The band kick into gear with vocalist Stacie Reeves swaying, her back to the audience, as the music slowly builds up. It gains ground and the audience is drawn into the heavenly psych sound. If you are a first-timer to the band you would swear that they dislike each other — they barely interact. Guitarist Matt Reiner stands in the one spot staring at his guitar as he noodles along. Bassist Adam Vanderwerf has his back to the audience the entire show. Normally there's eye contact for a song change, but not with The Dunes. This isn't a criticism, and the next 40 minutes fill the small cavity of a band room with the haze of fuzzy guitars. Their latest song, (Just Because You're Not Being Followed Doesn't Mean You're Not) Paranoid, was a true highlight of the night, showing that their songwriting has only improved since they released their debut EP Going Under way back in 2011.