{"id":45808,"date":"2025-09-05T14:32:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/brian-dunnes-clams-casino-album-asks-what-it-means-to-make-it\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:32:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:32:50","slug":"brian-dunnes-clams-casino-album-asks-what-it-means-to-make-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/brian-dunnes-clams-casino-album-asks-what-it-means-to-make-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Dunne&#8217;s &#8216;Clams Casino&#8217; Album Asks What It Means to &#8216;Make It&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tI never lived in New York, but growing up about 120 miles from the city, within TV antenna range of WPIX, Channel 11, I absorbed a lot of its culture as a kid. Crazy Eddie\u2019s madcap <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ml6S2yiuSWE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">commercials<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv-movies\/tv-movie-news\/joyce-randolph-the-honeymooners-dead-obituary-1234946744\/\">The Honeymooners<\/a><\/em> marathons on New Year\u2019s Eve, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4MwdT_u5aR4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">ads<\/a> for \u201cbeautiful Mount Airy Lodge\u201d wooing New Yorkers to the Poconos, and those for \u201c<em>Cats<\/em> at the Winter Garden!\u201d enticing us to catch a bus to the city. It was like living in a Lower East Side walk-up, but without the 10,000 steps and exorbitant rent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/brian-dunne\/\" id=\"auto-tag_brian-dunne\" data-tag=\"brian-dunne\">Brian Dunne<\/a>\u2019s terrific new album <em>Clams Casino<\/em> possesses that same kind of teleportation magic, albeit with less nostalgia and more melancholy. Over 10 songs, the Brooklyn singer-songwriter paints a vivid picture of what it\u2019s like to eke out an existence as a 30-something artist in New York today: Joys are hard-won and fleeting, self-doubt rears its head hourly, and the struggle to constantly achieve, or perform achievement on social media, looms like a <em>Scooby-Doo<\/em> villain\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDunne captures all of that in the title track, a bouncy, bittersweet singalong that equates success with a baked seafood dish. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to have a good life\/Clams casino on a Sunday night,\u201d he sings, full of simple aspiration.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Brian Dunne - Clams Casino {Official Video}\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QpxkvkY7c5g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIt\u2019s a song about class, Dunne explains when asked why he\u2019d write an homage to breadcrumbs, bacon, and bivalves. \u201cIt\u2019s about where I\u2019m from and where I hope to go, and all the shame and pride that comes with trying to outrun those circumstances,\u201d he says. \u201cI grew up in a super working-class family and I wear that as a badge of honor, but also, I\u2019ve got serious delusions of grandeur and I don\u2019t really know how to reconcile those two things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHis reality \u2014 like having to buy his mattress secondhand \u2014 is always bringing him back to earth. \u201cWhy\u2019s it so hard to have a good thing?\u201d Dunne wonders throughout \u201cClam Casino.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn lesser hands, such a question, especially from a young white male who plays guitar for a living, could come off as whining. But Dunne\u2019s voice, lilting and keening, is rich with empathy. He knows it\u2019s hard out there for everyone, and in the song\u2019s final verse points the finger back at himself: \u201cShe said, \u2018All you do is bitch and moan\u2026 You really don\u2019t have it half bad.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThat kind of self-awareness is a hallmark of Dunne\u2019s writing on <em>Clams Casino<\/em>. In the deceptively ebullient \u201cPlay the Hits,\u201d he acknowledges he\u2019s aging out of the competitive Brooklyn arts scene. \u201cAll the kids down here\/They all remind you of you\/They\u2019re a little big younger with a little bit more hunger,\u201d he sings, before capping the verse with a sharp, self-inflicted wound \u2014\u00a0\u201cAnd they look good in leather too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn the devastating \u201cI Watched the Light,\u201d about being ground down to the point where any glimmer is extinguished, he begins with an anecdote of someone turning tail. \u201cHeard you were leaving, moving to Cleveland\/Said it\u2019s not as bad as it looks, or sounds\/\u2019Cause after a while, man, it\u2019s all Ohio, man,\u201d he rationalizes. When Dunne performed the song earlier this year for a room full of tourists at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, he apologized to anyone visiting from Ohio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHe needn\u2019t have worried. \u201cI Watched the Light,\u201d like so many of the best songs on <em>Clams Casino<\/em>, establishes this as an album about the good and bad of New York \u2014 not Cleveland, nor anywhere else \u2014 without overtly saying so. In \u201cPlay the Hits,\u201d he writes about the upheaval of vacating a one-bedroom apartment. \u201cRockland County,\u201d meanwhile, fantasizes about the docility and ease of suburban life, where \u201cyou and I can live like townies\u201d with farmers markets, supersized Targets, and abundant free parking. Dunne doesn\u2019t declare it, but it\u2019s clear he\u2019s fleeing the city.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I Watched The Light (Live at Pitts BK)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xubXGD_cUNQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tPaul Simon, another New York songwriter, was also expert at making his home part of the narrative without spelling it out. It\u2019s hard to hear Simon sing, \u201cI met my old lover on the street last night\u201d in \u201cStill Crazy After All These Years\u201d and picture the encounter happening anywhere but on a Manhattan block. That\u2019s the same trick Dunne pulls off with <em>Clams Casino<\/em>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut Dunne, who is also a member of the cheeky band of songwriters known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/fantastic-cat-so-glad-you-made-it-video-adam-duritz-1235034974\/\">Fantastic Cat<\/a>, isn\u2019t averse to dropping a pin to share his exact location. He fills \u201cMax\u2019s Kansas City\u201d with a bevy of New York identifiers, from the defunct rock club of the title to a Lou Reed namecheck, as he wanders the downtown streets on an \u201cendless search for meaning.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAfter consuming \u201chalf a Xanax and an English tea,\u201d he has a revelation, not that everything is going to be all right in his city, or in this quickly deteriorating world, but that he\u2019s \u201cgot time to kill\u201d to see how it ends. And that may be even more satisfying than a clam appetizer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/brian-dunne-clams-casino-review-1235422164\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I never lived in New York, but growing up about 120 miles from the city, within TV antenna range of WPIX, Channel 11, I&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}