LISTEN: Dusker’s “Pissing in the pool” Is Warping Post-Punk With Cartoonish Melodies

After years of playing and touring in multiple bands in close-knit DIY scenes, the members of Dusker formed in Leicester in 2019 and quickly set about a string of high-profile shows with the likes of Kagoule, Petrol Girls, Fresh, and Peaness. Quickly developing a reputation for raucous, energetic shows.

Debut release EP 1 marries wide-open, exploratory post-punk with math, noise, and post-hardcore accents. Dancing, driven guitars, strong rhythms, and spitting vocals combine to show Dusker’s myriad of far-reaching influences. The record touches on concepts of platonic love, mutual support, and individual empowerment. ‘EP 1’ was recorded and produced by the band’s close friend and collaborator, Liquid Tony of Liquid Tone Productions, and was self-released in December 2019. 

Follow-up EP 2, released on Leeds’ Muzai Records in August 2020, is a confirmation of intent and a further sonic refinement, receiving airplay on Dean Jackson’s BBC Introducing show and press coverage across Europe and Japan. Fusing raucous punk energy with swooping, contemplative melodies and feedback-riddled textures, Dusker both covered new musical ground and solidified their noisy post-punk sound. 

Just a few days ago, Dusker returned to recorded music with “Pissing in the pool,” a drunken, gritty anthem with stumbling vocals that find their balance amongst the warping guitar riffs. This new single marks the band’s first piece of new music in two years, and they want their return to be felt in every molecule that makes up your body. Part cathartic outpouring, part display of nuanced musical prowess, and fully an anthem, “Pissing in the pool” is a proper introduction to the heady post-punk of Dusker, with cartoonish vocals that parade around a warping arrangement that thrives in harmonious cacophonies just as well as in slow-burning indie rock. Dusker is back massively, and “Pissing in the pool” hints at a fresh direction for the post-punk outfit.