In Dreams - Duster: Review

Review by Lav:

Duster is a California slowcore band whose original run of material in the late 90s and early 2000s went under-appreciated in its time. The band's catalog, in particular their 1998 masterpiece debut as Duster Stratosphere has developed quite a reputation online for its nostalgic haze and swaying subtlety. In the wake of their surprising online success, the band reunited releasing a self-titled album in 2019 that I liked but wasn't head over heels for. Where the band really hit me was on their darker surprise-released 2022 album Together. Much like that record, In Dreams arrives as a surprise drop, but by comparison, its attempts to channel what makes Duster unique as a band are more hit or miss. 

That isn't to say it never works though. Opener Quiet Eyes begins about how you'd think wading directly into somber slowcore with reverb-soaked nostalgic guitars and punchy timely drums. It pulls a punch that many songs on the record do of having a very long instrumental intro that takes up nearly half the song. Right as you think the song may just be entirely instrumental after all, the vocals kick in. This song in particular has the great trick of the vocals slowly beginning to fade behind the instrumental as the song goes on. 

The longest instrumental intro on the record comes on its longest song Like A Movie, which basically takes a full 3 minutes to get into its distinctive elements. What it's eventually replaced by is some very abstract and playful warbling that seems to lean into the space themes that the band has often played with. Similar motifs pop up on Baking Tapes, whose distortion eventually fades for a somber close, and Close To Home which eventually delivers one of the most melodramatic vocal performances the record has to offer. 

Much like their best work though, Duster often conjures more with imprecise feelings than they do with literal storytelling. Starting To Fall is a huge highlight with cymbal crashes playing out methodically throughout the entire song which almost feels like an ambient backdrop for the music. The vocals are there but you can often hardly tell what they're saying through the noise. It's such a compelling push and pull given how quiet everything is overall. I also love Cosmotransporter whose surprisingly rousing guitar riff plays out through the entire song. It's almost post-rock in the way it sets up numerous dramatic crescendos but it's all condensed into such a short time span. 

Elsewhere on the record No Feel is a short song but one whose opening instrumental grabs me immediately. It's one of the only songs on the record that delves so deeply into its eeriness that it becomes haunted. Finally there's Poltergeist which is the most abstract song here. It features very measured vocals that eventually fall victim to a complete compositional breakdown replaced by eerie hovering static. 

If you think I'm relying too much on discussing the songs that contain outliers or strange curiosities, that's because there are plenty of songs here that I have almost nothing to say about. The band is certainly relying on some tried and true formulas here which is fine when they nail it but hearing one languid slowcore intro after another can start to wear me down as the album goes on. It isn't nearly enough to derail my enjoyment of the record, but it holds the record back from reaching the emotional peaks of Duster album in the past. 

In Dreams is a solid release that flirts with both what I liked about Duster originally and also what made their previous album special. But ultimately while it exists in the same light as its predecessor, I don't find it as engaging. That comes both from a lack of highlights and a tendency to stick extremely close to what's familiar. Slowcore fans will probably like In Dreams, but it certainly won't blow anyone's mind like Stratosphere. 6/10

For more indie check out my review of Fontaines D.C's Romance