While twenty million Dick Dale and Surfaris ripoffs have captured the reckless spirit of surfing, I can’t quite recall a band that tackles the topic of watersports thematically. (Also: The Pee Tape is real.) You can’t convince me there’s a song that captures the peace and kinetic energy and solitude and excitement of bouncing on an ocean wave—at least none so elegantly as “Miki Dora.” On a recently released “Live in Prague” bonus track version that closes the deluxe edition of Freedom, the already-lengthy cut edges past six minutes. But it displays the deceptively simple exactitude Damon McMahon and his Amen Dunes project have been building toward since the release of his long-overdue 2018 breakout album in March and, in a way, across his 10-year career. In the tradition of Talking Heads’ “Naive Melody,” with its circular bassline and expansive riffing potential, as well as the reverse-engineered crescendo of something like Animal Collective’s “On a Highway,” “Miki Dora” manages to make the most out of space under the compacted mantle of New York City—even if McMahon has been indulging his wanderlust more in recent years. Is it post-punk, is it rock, is it psych? I don’t care what you call it; “Miki Dora” guides me to peace. This music directs the listener through meditation subliminally, letting the linear through-line of the composition build to the crest of that perfect and most delicious wave. On the Prague recording, we hear the ecstasy of spirit that’s made McMahon a magnet for someone like scene-and-session-stalwart Delicate Steve (who played across Freedom and toured with McMahon and crew) throughout his tenure with NYC label Sacred Bones. I have no idea what McMahon is saying, but I know exactly what he’s telling me—and I believe him. You mean to say that one of the most engrossing songs of the year is a set piece starring a hate-mongering Malibu lughead surfer? I think the lesson here, amid the explosive punch into the refrain of “ROLL AROUND WITH ME” (x ∞), is that when the tides roll in—and we always know they’re coming—we must confront the forces conspiring against us, head on. Sit and pick your wave, but know you gotta make it back to shore. — DALE W. EISINGER