Duster
Albert Hall, Manchester
27th May 2024
The unlikely resurrection of the slowcore pioneers continues in front of fans old and new in Manchester.
TikTok’s propensity for making viral stars of niche artists has opened up some unlikely bands to younger audiences in recent years, but perhaps none as surprising as Duster. Having only ever enjoyed cult success with their beguiling, space rock-tinged brand of slowcore through their initial run in the late nineties, the San Jose outfit found themselves at the centre of a sudden resurgence nearly 20 years after their 2001 split when Generation Z tapped into the potential for the subtle beauty of the band’s soundscapes to soundtrack viral videos.
Since reforming in 2018, they have released two further records and an off-cuts compilation and, now, are playing their debut UK shows, with tonight’s having been upgraded to the Albert Hall in a move that represented a doubling of capacity from Academy 2. It’s packed out, too, with the crowd a real blend of tuned-in teens and stoner rockers of a slightly more advanced vintage; core members Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber are greeted like heroes when they step out, flanked by two auxiliary live members.
If Duster have a unique selling point, it’s their ability to strike a delicate balance on their records between the intimate and the epic, often whilst painting from a limited palette; their lo-fi sound means they are often relying on the negative space around the sound to convey a sense of emotional depth. This does not, on paper, sound like an obvious blueprint for a riveting live show, but there is something genuinely engrossing about the way that they cleverly craft something that feels dramatic and all-encompassing from little more than a handful of sludgy riffs and a thick coat of fuzzy reverb.
There are moments in the set where they venture out a little; early cut Orbitron owes a heavy debt to the sonic wanderings of Spiritualized at their most avant-garde, while some unusually melodic guitars lend a sense of propulsion to Familiar Fields. Still, it’s the cuts that are most classically Duster, like the softly atmospheric Heading for the Door and Constellations, both taken from their 1998 album Stratosphere, that meet with the most fervent response from the crowd.
It is not an across-the-board triumph; Parton and Amber share vocal duties, although who sings what is kind of irrelevant live, where their trick of burying the vocals amidst the instrumentation works less effectively than on record. It’s a short but sweet set, too, lasting just over an hour and leaving the crowd wanting more. The thing is, they’ll likely get it, which was unthinkable a decade ago; Duster, in all their moody glory, are once again a going concern.
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Duster can be found at their website | Facebook | Instagram
Words by Joe Goggins: find him on X here.
Photos by Liam Maxwell
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