Brian Dunne: Clams Casino [Album Review]

Brian Dunne
Clams Casino
Missing Piece Records [2025]

“A DIY Brooklyn gem—wry, warm, and impossible not to sing along to.”

Album Overview: Brian Dunne has built his career on sharp storytelling and a restless urge to capture the lives of everyday people. After 2023’s Loser on the Ropes and a detour with his side project Fantastic Cat, the New York singer-songwriter returns to solo work with fresh purpose. Recorded DIY-style in his Red Hook, Brooklyn home studio, Clams Casino is both personal and wide-reaching. Dunne explores the tension between everyday struggles and the small pleasures that make it all worthwhile. These songs balance frustration with a wry perseverance, wrapping their observations in harmonies, handclaps, and choruses you can’t help but sing along to. It’s the kind of rock record you crank up and let roll without touching the dial.

Musical Style: The album leans on guitar-driven rock with late-’70s flashes of keyboards and sly synths. Dunne pairs sturdy rhythms and classic songcraft with a subtle new-wave shimmer, making these tracks feel grounded in tradition yet open to fresh ideas.

Evolution of Sound: Compared to Loser on the Ropes, this is Dunne stretching in all directions. Playing most of the instruments himself, he shapes a tighter, more cohesive sound—still rooted in classic rock, but now flirting with early synth textures. It’s the sound of an artist comfortable in his roots while pushing into new territory.

Artists with Similar Fire: Think Paul Simon’s narrative flair, ’70s Billy Joel and Springsteen’s working-class rock, the reflective songwriting of Jason Isbell, and the warm, pointed perspective of The War on Drugs. Add in the indie spark of Greg Freeman and MJ Lenderman, and you’ve got a good map of the terrain.

Pivotal Tracks: The title track, “Clams Casino,” nails the album’s central question: is it so bad to want a good life? “I Watched The Light” meditates on fading dreams and the quiet erosion of youthful drive. “Play The Hits” bursts with urgent energy, while “Max’s Kansas City” serves up stream-of-consciousness humor and a dose of defiance.

Lyrical Strength: Dunne writes with a storyteller’s eye, making small details feel universal. His lines hit like knowing winks and quiet truths. Take the title track’s deadpan couplet: “They say you get what you pay for / I bought a mattress at the discount store / I feel like I’m sleeping on the concrete floor / I guess you get what you pay for.” He calls it like he sees it—no filter, no filler.

Final Groove: Clams Casino is a big-hearted, quietly ambitious record that rewards both casual spins and deep listening. Dunne proves you can still write timeless rock songs that feel urgent and alive. His restless storytelling shows no signs of slowing, and wherever his next chapter leads, it’s bound to be worth following.

BRIAN DUNNE LINKS
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Missing Piece Records