Duster

Duster is a American slowcore band from San Jose, California formed in 1996 with an initial lineup of Clay Parton and Canaan Amber, former members of bands Calm and Mohinder. They are known for their unique lo-fi sound, recording their music onto cassette decks and similar equipment at their home studio nicknamed Low Earth Orbit. The duo released two demo tapes in the same year as their formation, Christmas Dust and On The Dodge. In 1997, they released their debut 7" EP Transmission, Flux via Up Records. The band briefly recorded under the moniker Valium Aggelein, releasing Dweller on the Threshold as a cassette tape that same year, alongside Hier kommt der schwartze Mond in 1998. Jason Albertini joined the band during the recording of their debut album Stratosphere, playing drums on three tracks. The album was released by Up Records in February 1998, being followed by the Apex, Trance-Like 7" EP via Smooth Lips Records that same year. By the release of the 1975 EP in 1999 and their second studio album Contemporary Movement, Albertini had become more involved in the group's creative process and became a permament member of the band. By 2000, Duster had become inactive and went on hiatus. In an interview, Clay Parton stated that "When we originally paused around 2000, it was because of me. I went through a breakup, and I had a new baby, so I had to figure out to provide for this tiny person. A band was just not a priority anymore. So the other guys moved to Seattle, everyone was just kind of their own satellite for a while." Duster had reconvened in 2004, expanding their lineup to include guitarist Krag and bassist Ross Peard. They announced that they had began working on new material, but were ultimately unsatisfied with the results and left it unfinished. The band had dissolved by 2005. After Duster's dissolution, Albertini and Amber went on to form the experimental band Helvetia in 2005. Parton released his debut album Birds in the Ground under his solo alias Eiafuawn (short for "Everything Is All Fucked Up And What Not") the same year. Amber also released the self-titled EP Canaan Amber in 2010. Duster announced their return on Instagram in 2018 with the simple message "hi. it's been a long time but we are recording a little bit." In January 2019, Numero Group announced Capsule Losing Contact, a boxset reissue of their complete discography, alongside unreleased material. The boxset was released in March. The band's first studio album in 19 years, the self-titled Duster, was released in December 2019 via Muddguts Records. In April 2022, the band surprise-released Together, their fourth studio album. Clay Parton announced via his forum Stereobird that "jason is not a part of duster anymore and he's not on this record and no one should be reading anything at all into that because we all love each other still and forever...", asking fans to also support Helvetia's recent output. In 2023, Numero Group released Remote Echoes, an archival release compiling the band's widely-bootlegged demo material. The band's fifth studio album, In Dreams, was similarly surprise-dropped in August 2024. In March 2026, the band announced Sooj, a new side project in collaboration with Matt Cagle of Dirty Art Club. The project's debut album 'Crusher' was released in April. .