Reunited slowcore rockers Duster return to SF for Noise Pop 30
SAN FRANCISCO – Duster has had quite the second life. The San Jose-born band from the turn-of-the-century experienced a serious resurgence in popularity the past few years that led to their back catalog being reissued and the release of two new albums.
Duster began in 1996, its founders consisting of Clay Parton and Jason Albertini of the band Calm, and Canaan Dove Amber of the band Mohinder. Mostly eschewing the sounds of their previous bands, with Duster, the trio created a slower, bigger sound full of indie rock melodies but heavier. While other slowcore bands like Bedhead and Galaxie 500 embraced distortion, Duster stood out by releasing records with the power of fellow San Jose rockers Sleep.
After releasing some demos on cassette, the band signed with Up Records, home to such indie greats as Modest Mouse and Built To Spill. In 1997 Duster released its first EP, Transmission, Flux, which contained fan favorites such as "Orbitron" and "Stars Will Fall," two wildly different songs that perfectly demonstrate the wide spectrum of Duster's sound.
The following year, the band released its debut album, the highly influential Stratosphere. The album is chock full of simple, slow Indie/shoegaze songs that range from very loud and heavy, to whisper quiet. Tracks like "Heading Out the Door," "Inside Out," "Reed to Hillsborough" and "Echo, Bravo" still sound massive 30 years later, and many musicians on YouTube have covered them over the years.
The band's sound changed for their second album, 2000's Contemporary Movement. With Albertini stepping in to contribute to the songwriting, the sound incorporated sounds besides guitars and adapted sounds of that era's dance music. But the same year the album came out, Up Records co-founder Chris Takano died of Leukemia. The label stopped not long after and Duster broke up that same year, though Parton later said they thought the band would come together at some point. "When we took a break almost two decades ago, we didn't think it was going to all completely stop. We thought we could keep it drifting at least, maybe at a slower pace and with a different process. But everything just went dark," Parton told the Tucson Weekly in 2019.
After the breakup, all three kept playing music, but Albertini seemed to be the most prolific, spending time in Built To Spill and releasing several recordings with his project Helvetia. By 2015, Amber had joined Helvetia and a few years later, the band started performing Duster songs.
Reissue label the Numero Group agreed to re-release Duster's catalog after it had gone out-of-print due to the collapse of Up Records. The label started by releasing the anthology Capsule Losing Contact before reissuing their albums and EPs. The band then surprised everyone by releasing a new self-titled album that same year saw the group return to a sound more similar to the tracks on Stratosphere. The band also brought in former-Built To Spill drummer Scott Plouf to play drums – Albertini moved to bass – when the band went on a national tour, which saw many sold out shows.
The COVID pandemic in 2020 stopped the band's live schedule but when the lockdown finally ended, Duster had a new album under their belt, Together. The effort is more of a return to the sounds on the band's second album and features songs that Parton and Amber worked on during the lockdown.
The band booked a sold-out West Coast tour that followed their performance at the Desert Daze music festival last fall that included a stop at the Chapel. The slowcore band continues its extended victory lap of sold-out shows with this return to San Francisco to headline the Regency Ballroom as part of the 30th anniversary edition of Noise Pop. Opening the show is Orange County-based trio Julie -- who mix elements of shoegaze, dream pop and tuneful grunge -- and Sour Widows, a bedroom indie-rock project from Oakland.
Noise Pop 30: Duster with Julie and Sour Widows
Friday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. $30-$45 (sold out)
Regency Ballroom
