Duster's self-titled 2019 album was a welcome return for the slowcore spacegaze survivors, recapturing the lo-fi beauty of their earlier recordings while also adding some abrasive noise and even more gloom. A breathtaking document of a band not content to ride on their own coattails, the record was dedicated to further explorations of the sonic territory they had staked out so perfectly in the past. On 2022's
Together,
Duster build on their experimental nature by trying some things they haven't really focused on before. Now down to a duo of Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber, they still record in their humble home studios, still eschew clarity in favor of feel, and do nothing to scare off anyone looking to the band for moody, dark, and still somehow uplifting songs. They've dialed back on the noisy stuff and experimentation that made
Duster captivating and tightened up the expansive nature of their early work. The result is a compressed sound that hovers calmly in the mid-range area, never spinning out of control or splintering into feedback as the midtempo songs gently unspool through layers of stringed instruments and the steady beat of the drums. The occasional burst of shimmering distortion or synth warble flickers past, but mainly
Together feels more song-based and direct than anything
Duster have done before. Quite a few of the tunes could have worked with just voice and guitar. Not that the band make it super easy to grasp the particulars of what they are singing about, as no matter how sparse the arrangement, Parton's voice is always buried near the bottom. It does get the feeling across, though, especially when paired with jangling or angular guitar lines that bleed emotion into the grooves. Case in point is the painfully melancholy "Teeth," where it's hard to make out the words, but the chime of the guitars, gentle tap of the drums, and rumble of the bass combine to jab the feeling deep into the listener's gut. This sensation is one that repeats over and over as
Duster strip back their sonic ambition and bare their souls. While much of the album takes this kind of hybrid space rock/singer-songwriter approach, there are also elements of shoegaze that crop up more clearly than ever before, especially on songs like "Escalator" or "Making Room" where the guitars take over and whip up gleaming spires of color. On the flip side of that, the band cover new ground with "Sleepyhead," a credible post-punk ballad that features a burbling drum machine, plenty of chorus on the guitars, and a crooning, almost audible vocal. It's the most straightforward moment on
Duster's most immediate and song-oriented record. Trading the rambling nature for directness is a daring move for a group who made it their stock-in-trade, but the gamble pays off. Featuring songs with a winning combination of gently experimental sounds and low-key dazzle,
Together is another surprising slowcore triumph. ~ Tim Sendra