Some bands... you want them to change. Though you may have loved their initial sound, it gets tired after a few records and you find yourself hoping they'll try something new to stave off your boredom. Other bands-- bands like Duster... you like what they have going and hope they stay the course. Duster's slow, noisy and frayed sonic sludge is a thing o' beauty for those willing to look closely enough, and while their 1975 EP shows not a whit of growth from their two previous 7" or their 1998 debut, Stratosphere, it still delivers the sad space rock goods in fine form.

The only minor adjustment on 1975 is a slight- but- noticeable shift to a more song- oriented, and less sonic- dependent environment. On tracks like "Memphis Sophisticate" and "And Things (Are Mostly Ghosts)," the lyrics are clear and easy to discern, a rarity for a band this in love with distortion and cheap recording methods. Both these tracks jettison the layered guitars and meandering organ for a more stripped down approach, and while this uncluttered backing highlights what turns out to be pretty fair songwriting chops, something of Duster's singular identity is lost in the process. Yeah, these are good songs, but they sound like they could have been recorded by any number of other "slow" bands.

Ultimately, Duster make their name as a band that focuses on the blurry edges around the picture and leaves the deeper meaning to the imagination. "The Motion Picture," with drums that crawl by like a wounded sloth and an indiscernible vocal track that cuts in and out in double time, is closer to the Duster I've grown to love. Same goes for "August Relatively," which uses the timeworn technique of backward drums to lend an otherworldly feel to the skeletal melody. But "Want No Light to Shine," the EP's closer, is by far the highlight: with a gentle organ filling the spaces left by a nervous, trembling guitar, it seems so fragile it could disappear at any moment. And then it does, into a lovely coda played on an upright piano, a heartbreaking ending to another fine example of the Duster sound.

-Mark Richard-San