The San Jose trio known for crafting droning lo-fi rock tunes with undeniable melodies are poised for a comeback this year after breaking up way back in 2000. It begins with Capsule Losing Contact, a 51-track monster that compiles the material from Duster’s two full-length albums, 1998’s Stratosphere and 2000’s Contemporary Movement, as well as their three EPs and a handful of previously unreleased tracks, including “What You’re Doing to Me” and “Faint.”
San Jose’s sonic cure-all for the Y2K hangover that never materialized, Duster emerged from a cloud of lonely bong rips to take indie rock to the moon, and beyond. Scotch-taped guitars toggle between a chorus of brittle winter trees and a blanket of distorted fuzz. The low rumble of a cardboard box being kicked in a dead mall keeps pace in the background, as muffled, sung-spoken vocals ponder the great mysteries of modern mundanity. Three years of home recording accidents and blown-out 2AM studio experiments are spread across four LPs, gathering the short-lived trio’s Stratosphere and Contemporary Movement albums, 1975 EP, singles, demos, and other miscellaneous debris into one escape pod, now free to drift in the endless void of space.
The Fat Angel Sings 