‘Thaw’ is a raw indie pop song about belly button infections, snow days and conversations regarding gentrification. Pretty much a standard day, then. The song is a great intro to how Yucky Duster use bouncy lo-fi pop songs to be simultaneously crabby and hopeful, to delve into not just those sparkly special moments that life sometimes serves up, but also the bummer of the day-to-day.

‘The Ropes’ is a psych-tinged pop gem, all swaying guitar and shifts in tempo, before the anxiously sassy ‘Different People’, which opens with the lines “at it again, stuck inside my head / with all my friends, will it every change? / how can all these faces be so calm and cool and happy all the time?”. Closing track ‘Elementary School Dropout’ is a current favourite, the droll vocals presented front and centre, rolling around on swells of good ol’ fashioned indie pop, lamenting a past of bad behaviour and poor punctuality.

“I’m an elementary school dropout
I break the rules like every single time
I’m the bad girl in the corner
cos I can never get to school on time”

Duster’s Lament is out now on cassette on Infinity Cat Recordings, and as a digital download on the Yucky Duster Bandcamp page.

The post Yucky Duster – Duster’s Lament appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Remember, we’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, so don’t hesitate to get in touch and let you know your favourite tracks from June. Or July. Or whenever.

Tracklisting:

1) Gofer – Yucky Duster
2) The End Parts One and Two – Paper Bee
3) Pas De Deux – Brenda’s Friend
4) Mostly Homely – Exam Season
5) rosy – Long Neck
6) Cool It! – Terry vs. Tori
7) best thought – Honeyuck
8) buttery sprouts – Trace Mountains
9) Green Ennui – Flying Circles
10) Memento Mori – Jake Bellissimo
11) Same Light – Tim Lannen
12) Golden Car – Tincho
13) Can’t Take My Mind – Skyjelly
14) E.V.I.L – Medicine Boy
15) Bike Thief – Frederick Squire
16) Oh Well – Adeline Hotel
17) Offering – Loone
18) Something Profound & Meaningful – See You At Home
19) Bowl of Plums – Ben Seretan
20) Muted Colours – Chain Wallet
21) Little One – Aaron Holm
22) Fear O’ the Light – Katie Dey
23) Protracted – William Ryan Fritch
24) Dizzy – Danielle Fricke
25) Uncanny – Sister Grotto
26) Hands in Our Names – Karima Walker

The post June 2016 Roundup: A Mixtape appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“We discussed our thoughts and our feelings
but that doesn’t make me wanna
stare at the ceiling with you”

‘Flip Flop’ is a lean and bright song about falling for a jerky guy with jerky friends (one who wears flip flops), while ‘Construction Man’ is slightly off-kilter pop which accelerates and decelerates throughout its minute and a half run-time. “I think you’ve got a real good case of the bads”, goes the song of the same name, “Call your mother call your doctor you’re sad, you can’t make thing you can’t break things so instead you feel bad”. This is a bummer pop song that feels somehow uplifting, drawing solidarity from the act of hearing that other people sometimes feel down too. ‘Break Your Phone’ is a sub-one-minute punk song before ‘Blue Elvis’, with its slow, sidling start, and ‘Donny S Hits Zack Up About a Job’, a rather specific song about the awkwardness that arises when a friend/acquaintance asks you to recommend them for a job. From here, the punky elements of the album are dialled back almost entirely on stand-out ‘Gofer’, a glorious two minute pop song of unrequited love:

“I’ve been hanging around
(just because you told me to)
I’ve been hanging around
but how long, how long
is too long?”

There’s an insistent drumbeat and fuzzy, basement-recorded vibe on ‘Paul Revere’, an angry, mean song punctuated with moments of silence and the repeated cry of “do you really think you’re that good looking?”, before things brighten on closer ‘Seashell Song’, where Black and Gaster’s vocals bounce around off one another with thoughts on summer wanderings (“Does it ever cease to be exploration? Or can it only lead to a permanent vacation?”).

The album rattles through in almost no time at all (under twenty minutes), but has enough vim and vigour to ensure you go straight for that repeat button. Yucky Duster’s music is undoubtedly rough around the edges, but that’s a quality that works in their favour. If you want to hear pop songs that have been smoothed and slicked to within an inch of their lives then move along. But if you want to hear a bunch of people having a blast with their friends, then step right in, Yucky Duster are the band for you.

You can order Yucky Duster on cassette via Birdtapes.

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