Dune Rats only released their latest album, If It Sucks, Turn It Up, in August, but the surf rock trio are already looking towards their next record. 

Dunies frontman Danny Beus discussed the vision for new music in a new interview with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, revealing they’ve been toying with expansive ideas.

“We’ve been talking about doing an 18-song album next,” Beus said. “We want to make it super eclectic – acoustic tracks, dancey ones, and definitely some weird experimentation shit… If you’re going to do an album now, I feel like you should load up an album that someone can actually feel is worth getting.”
Beus was quick to stress, however, that the Dunies writing method hasn’t changed. “I always feel you should be able to play the song on an acoustic guitar or just a guitar and not have to deliver exactly what’s recorded live as well,” he added. “You can have the best fucking song you can make in the studio, give it as much colour and weirdness and little licks and stuff. But at the end of the day, the live show is a whole other beast.”

Dune Rats are currently on a massive tour spanning regional Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and beyond (see Australian tour dates below), which memorably kicked off in Taiwan.

“The festival we played was one of the first punk rock festivals in Taiwan. The people were just so stoked to have us there,” Beus told Rolling Stone AU/NZ in the same interview, revealing the cultural differences between Taiwan and Australia.

“You can buy beers on the street, but no one was drinking,” Beus said. “I was walking around with two cocktails in my hand and this guy’s like, ‘You have two drinks in your hand?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah’. And he just couldn’t understand. He goes, ‘But how are you going to drink two drinks at once?’ It’s kind of normal for us Aussies – if you were at a festival, you’d just go and walk around with two drinks because you don’t want to have to line up to get another one.”

After its release in August, If It Sucks, Turn It Up earned Dune Rats a nomination for Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards, where it lost out to SPEED’s Only One Mode.

Dune Rats Regional Australia Tour Dates

Saturday, December 28th
Edge Hill Tavern, Cairns

Sunday, December 29th
Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville

Monday, December 30th
Magnum’s Hotel, Airlie Beach
Thursday, January 2nd
Harvey Road Tavern, Gladstone
Sunday, January 5th
Cleveland Sands Hotel, Cleveland
Thursday, January 9th
Shoal Bay Country Club, Newcastle
Saturday, January 11th
Jetty Beach House, Coffs Harbour
Friday, January 17th
Altar Bar, Hobart
Saturday, January 25th
Entrance Leagues Club, Gosford

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