Back in the late ’90s, a trio of San Jose indie rockers released two full-length records and a handful of EPs, to little attention. Duster played dingy basement shows and never drove their tour van beyond the West Coast. Instead of recruiting a bass player, they dragged an old organ to shows with multi-instrumentalist Clay Parton tapping the pedals for some low end.

Their songs rarely had proper beginnings or endings. They were structureless, fuzzed-out, bare ensembles of spacey noise—slow, dynamic and supremely lo-fi. If a song featured singing, the vocals were treated as another instrument, not the primary focal point. There was a beauty to the delicate chemistry and bubbling emotionality in Duster’s tunes, whether anyone knew about them or not.

The band faded away, and in 2000 their label, Up Records, went defunct. Then something magical happened. The existing copies of their albums—dubbed to tapes and shared on peer-to-peer networks—made the rounds with a new generation of indie kids. Duster’s take on ’90s slowcore was looser and more experimental than that of their peers and inspired several now-successful bands, such as Girlpool, (Sandy) Alex G and Hovvdy.

“We were working in pretty simple modes,” Parton says, recalling the early days. “How simple can this be but still be devastating? Part of our charm is sounding a little fucked-up. We don’t really write songs and then record them; we use recording as part of the writing process.”

The cult of Duster was built without the help of streaming-music platforms. They grew their fanbase through old-fashioned word of mouth and chat threads on obscure music forums. Last March, indie label Numero Group issued a proper re-release of the Duster catalog. Demand was high. Their limited pressing of 500 three-LP colored-vinyl box sets sold out within a day.

And they began gigging together again—a difficult task given that Parton lives in Santa Cruz and the other two members (Jason Albertini and Canaan Dove Amber) live in Portland. They played their first show in December 2018 in Brooklyn to an exuberant crowd of mostly 20-somethings, opening for Duster-superfan (Sandy) Alex G.

In Dec 2019, Duster released a record of brand-new material, which they recorded on and off for a year and a half at Parton’s house mostly, on a four-track tape recorder, just like they did with their previous records.

“[Back then] all we had was a cassette four-track machine, and super shitty drums and super shitty everything,” Parton recalls. “We didn’t mind the immediate, disheveled sound of the four-track. When we recorded on 8-track or even the first 16-track machine we got, it was the same approach. Smudged is our thing.”

While their homespun aesthetic helped them build underground clout, the band discovered early on after re-forming that they wouldn’t be able to simply rely on their status as reclusive indie legends. It was a homecoming show—one of the worst shows they’ve ever played, at The Ritz in early 2019—that really pushed Duster to take their reunion more seriously.

“We played like shit,” Partons says. “There were weird vibes, something wasn’t right. And not that many people were there. Maybe San Jose crowds still don’t want to pay for shows. Maybe some things never change. It was like a true ’90s Duster experience, because we played some rough shows back then too.”

It was a turning point. In the wake of the Jan. 25, 2019 performance, Duster started working with a booking agent and sought professional help with the business end of the band.

Now when they tour, they can relax and focus on tending to their fans. They’re meeting a lot of kids that were toddlers—or simply glints in their mothers’ eyes—when they released their first album. It’s energizing, Parton says.

“Meeting people at shows is rewarding,” he says. “Sometimes, a crowd of people drawn together are all bonded by that common thread of feeling not-right, or isolated, alone, some variation on that theme—it’s almost like we are all taking care of each other, at least for a moment.”

Duster
Feb. 28, 9pm, $20+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

With gently warbling organ, warm tube amps, The Band-esque vocal harmonies and the kind of resonant, straight-to-tape tom-toms that would make Levon Helm swell with pride, these Philadelphia indie-rock veterans prove it’s possible to teach an old pooch new tricks. After tracking Abandoned Mansion in 2014 only to shelve it until 2017, releasing the long-lost Psychedelic Swamp in 2016 and taking a break from touring—Dr. Dog are recalibrated, recentered and reinvigorated, touring behind 2018’s Critical Equation. “I feel like I’m in a totally new band right now,” says guitarist and singer Scott McMicken.

Dr. Dog
Tue, 9pm, $26+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

Nearly 25 years into the game and it’s clear that Atmosphere will go down as one of the best hip-hop groups ever. The Minnesota duo’s early albums feature a quick-witted Slug using his silver tongue to couple glib remarks with intricate and braggadocious rhymes, all while producer Ant drops some seriously dope beats. But as Sean Daley and Anthony Davis have grown up, so has their music. Slug has turned his lens inward, admitting his faults and drawing on his experiences as a father. All the while, Ant’s production has grown more sophisticated.

Atmosphere
Sun, 8pm, $33+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

Sacramento-born chillwave producer Scott Hansen, also known as Tycho, received a Grammy nomination for Epoch, his 2016 album of ambient electronic instrumentals that seamlessly blends live instrumentation with drum machines and DAW production. Backed by a live band for most of his performances, Tycho finds a middle ground between live instrumentalists, sampling and electronic synths. This Tuesday at The Catalyst, he’ll be joined by Australian electronica and lo-fi artist Mild Minds, who received acclaim for his 2018 debut single, “Swim.” Mild Minds draws from other electronica influences like Bonobo, ODESZA and Caribou.

Tycho with Mild Minds
Tue, 9pm, $35+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

Though their moniker was likely adopted with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Conrad Keely and Jason Reece—the core duo behind …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead—have secured a permanent seat in the indie rock pantheon. Their 2003 album, Source, Tags & Codes, was as sweeping and orchestral as it was visceral and biting. String arrangements swelled into squalls of knob-twisting feedback and delay. Tidal waves of warm major chords carried ominous lamentations of “death and decay.” Like Radiohead’s Kid A, it changed the way an entire generation of musicians thought about rock & roll.

Trail of Dead
Thu, 9pm, $15
The Catalyst Atrium, Santa Cruz

Somewhere, on an alternate plane of existence, Kevin Gates is the universe’s greatest late-night host. There he is, trading witticisms with his guests, seamlessly dropping into outrageous and uproarious non-sequiturs, and waxing philosophically about the merits of Blink-182, Miley Cyrus and the health benefits of a bootylicious diet. In this timeline, however, the Louisiana rapper is simply one of the best emcees in the game. He has followed up his critically acclaimed 2016 LP, Islah, with his second full-length, I’m Him, which dropped in late September. Gates comes to Santa Cruz behind his latest effort. Really really.

Kevin Gates
Sun, 9pm, $40+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

This L.A.-based emcee has dropped eight albums since his 1997 debut, F’Real—including classics like Murs for President (2008) and Have a Nice Life (2015). The man is unstoppable, and still melancholy as hell. His last release, A Strange Journey into the Unimaginable (2018), runs the gamut from heartbreaking to hilarious, as he jumps from spitting about his stillborn son to a superhero pool party. In addition to the prominent place he holds in the world of underground hip-hop, he has also worked with some of the genre’s best-known luminaries, including Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg.

Murs
Wed, 9pm, $18+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

Swaggering and cool, RJD2’s production work is known to many more than probably realize it. He penned the tune used in the opening credits of AMC’s hit period drama, Mad Men. First emerging on El-P’s Def Jux label in the early 2000s, his beats have always been at once forward-thinking and classic NY cool—mixing samples culled from dusty jazz records, cinema scores and world music records in exciting, challenging and yet accessible ways. On 2016’s Dame Fortune, he charts a journey across hip-hop, EDM, prog rock and spacy soundscapes.

RJD2
Sat, 8pm, $20+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

Originally hailing from Cleveland, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony found success through a mix of raw talent and a heavy-hitting West Coast connection—Eazy-E. The founding member of N.W.A. put them on his own Ruthless Records, releasing their Creepin on ah Come Up EP in 1994. That was followed by the iconic E. 1999 Eternal, which featured classics, like “Crossroads” and “1st of Tha Month.” The group, known for its unique blend of gangster swagger, potent lyricism, rapid-fire rhymes and rich harmonies, is still grinding.

Bone Thugs
Sat, 9pm, $26
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

The world is waking up to the genius that is Thundercat. Fans of prog-rock, funk, R&B and smooth pop have always had overlapping tastes, but few modern musicians have blurred these lines quite as well as he has. The bass virtuoso has worked with everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kenny Loggins—who, along with fellow yacht-rocker Michael McDonald contributed to the track “Show You the Way” on Thundercat’s excellent 2017 record, Drunk. It could have been pure cheese, but instead it was one of the best tracks on an overall brilliant album.

Thundercat
Fri, 9pm, $25+
The Catalyst, Santa Cruz