The subject of longing has permeated through most music for about as long as we can remember, but where its presence is ever constant, its shape is ever changing. Charm-punk outfit Yucky Duster finds a way to fit sunny, melodic nostalgia rather than exasperated lamentation in their new single, “Gofer”, off their debut record, out June 3 on Birdtapes. Bits of ’60s surf cruises in and out of bewitching punk grit, neither ever really making their ways into the full swing of genre, but rather, kind of existing on their own, one seamlessly handing off to the other, and back again.
The origins of the project, having started as just Maggie Gaster and Madeline Babuka Black with a bass guitar and drumkit, are pronounced in the opening seconds, a buoyant rhythm section carrying unthinkably sunny vocals, despite the plaintive inquisitions they are pondering. The guitars, brought to the table by Zack O’Brian (also of Slonk Donkerson) and Luca Balser (also of The Gradients/Gummy), serve to bulwark the steadfast drive of the melody, and the self-aware, self-knowing question of the lyrics, “how long, how long is too long?” Established in such a simple question are a simultaneous realization, a coming to terms, and a determination that enough time has been wasted on the “you” of the song. Better things to come for “me.”
