A Beginner's Guide To

Dune Dogs

Beach Rock • Surf • New England Summer

A group of New England high-school friends who turned a shared love of surf, sun, and salt water into a beach-rock band, blending surf, funk, reggae, and pop into pure summer.


The Short Version

Who Are They?

Dune Dogs are a beach-rock band from the North Shore of Massachusetts, a group of high-school friends who started the band in 2019 to get the beach party going and mostly never stopped.

The sound is exactly what the name promises: surf guitar, a reggae bounce, a little funk, and a pop hook, all built for a summer afternoon with sand in your shoes. It is loose, sunny, and unpretentious on purpose.

They are young, prolific, and clearly having a blast, three albums deep before most bands finish one, and they have already pulled in guests from the surf world, including a track built around the East Coast pro surfer Ben Gravy.

A sandy basement practice space at night with a surfboard on the wall, amps and a drum kit under string lights
The basements and garages the band's sound was built in.

From the Basement to the Beach Bar

The Story

A young band moving fast, one summer record at a time.

  1. 2019

    The band forms

    A group of close friends from St. John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts start Dune Dogs, working up their sound in basements, garages, and barns.

  2. 2021

    "Citrus" and the first singles

    Early singles, including "Citrus," built around a spoken bit from East Coast pro surfer Ben Gravy, put the band on the map in the beach-rock world.

  3. 2022

    After a While

    The debut album: eleven tracks of surf, funk, and reggae-tinged beach rock, and the record that pulls the early singles together.

  4. 2024

    A double year

    The band releases two albums, the self-titled Dune Dogs and Roof Music, a remarkable output for a band this young, and a sign they are just getting warmed up.


Three Videos, One Introduction

Start Here

Two of their own and one live cover. This is a good-time band, so treat it like a beach day.

01 · The Calling Card

"Citrus" (feat. Ben Gravy)

The song that put them on the map, built around a bit from the East Coast surfer, and the clearest shot of pure summer the band has.

Watch on YouTube ↗
02 · The Video

"East Coast Gnar," official video

An official video that captures the band's whole East Coast surf-rock identity in one bright, breezy shot.

Watch on YouTube ↗
03 · Live

"Fire on the Mountain" (live cover)

A live take on the Grateful Dead classic that shows the jammier side of the band, and exactly why they fit a festival like Yarnival.

Watch on YouTube ↗

The Studio Catalog

The Albums 5 to start with

Three albums and two key singles, all made fast and made for summer. Start here.

2022

After a While

The essential one: the debut that gathers the early singles, including "Citrus" and "East Coast Gnar."

Open in Apple Music ↗
2024

Roof Music

The most recent full-length, and the sound of a young band getting sharper and more ambitious.

Open in Apple Music ↗
2024

Dune Dogs

The self-titled record, the second of two albums in a single year.

Open in Apple Music ↗
2021

Citrus (feat. Ben Gravy)

The breakout single: the surf-world collaboration that first got the band noticed.

Open in Apple Music ↗
2022

Higher Ground

A standalone single and a good three-minute snapshot of the band's sunny, hook-first side.

Open in Apple Music ↗

Where to Drop the Needle

Playlists

One curated YouTube Music playlist of Dune Dogs essentials, the sunniest way in.

Essentials
The Way In · 11 tracks
  1. CitrusAfter a While
  2. Warm Weather StateAfter a While
  3. River RoadAfter a While
  4. East Coast GnarAfter a While
  5. Funky WahAfter a While
  6. Higher GroundSingle
  7. Words That I Made UpRoof Music
  8. You're the Only One I WantRoof Music
  9. DaydreamsRoof Music
  10. Girl Next DoorDune Dogs
  11. Free Your SoulDune Dogs
▶ Listen on YouTube Music

The People on the Records

The Band

Four friends who started in school and kept the whole thing loose and homegrown.

A four-piece young rock band in silhouette on an outdoor beach-bar stage at sunset
The four-piece behind the beach party.
The Vibe

This is a band that started as friends and still sounds like it. The looseness is the appeal: Dune Dogs make music that feels like a good day at the beach, because that is more or less how they make it.


The Roots of the Sound

Influences

Dune Dogs pull from the whole family tree of sun-and-surf music, from 1960s beach pop to modern reggae-rock.

The Beach

The Beach Boys

The original sound of sun, surf, and harmony, and the well every beach-rock band still draws from. We have a full guide.

Open in Apple Music ↗
The Surf

Dick Dale

The king of the surf guitar: the reverb-drenched, fast-picked sound that defines the genre's twang.

Open in Apple Music ↗
The Reggae-Rock

Pepper

The Kona reggae-rock trio whose sunny, laid-back blend is a clear model for the band's island side.

Open in Apple Music ↗
The Groove

Slightly Stoopid

The modern American reggae-rock touchstone, and a big part of the sound Dune Dogs grew up on.

Open in Apple Music ↗
The Funk

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The funk-rock energy and California looseness behind the band's punchier, groovier moments.

Open in Apple Music ↗

In Their Own Words

Interviews

Dune Dogs are young and press has not quite caught up to them yet, so the best window into the band is its own channel: official videos, live covers, and basement sessions.

Watch · The Live Show

Straight from the source

The band posts its own live sets, covers, and studio clips. That is where the personality lives while the interviews are still to come.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch · The Sessions

The basement takes

The acoustic and basement-studio versions scattered across their catalog are the closest thing to a conversation: the songs stripped down to four friends in a room.

Watch on YouTube ↗

The Rabbit Hole

Going Deeper

A young band worth getting in on early. A few directions.

The Way to Listen

Do not overthink this one. Put on "Citrus," find some sun, and let it be exactly what it is: a very good time.


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