by Myles Tiessen (@myles_tiessen)
An LSD trip on Halloween night in Joshua Tree sparked the formation of the new indie-rock duo Dust Star. A few years back, Justin Jurgens (formerly of Sirs) and Cameron Wisch (who helmed the beloved but short-lived band Cende) retreated into the wilderness of that infamous national park. Exhausted from the pressures of being touring musicians, traveling into nowhere to take acid and play guitar together seemed like a pretty good way to shake off the shackles of the music industry’s dominance. Fast forward a few years, Wisch and Jurgens formally emerge as the band Dust Star, holding their debut album Open Up That Heart proudly high.
With that editorialized lede aside, we can focus on the music. It’s fun. Like, really fun. Open Up That Heart is a twinkling lo-fi power-pop attestation to the value of lively and catchy guitar rock. The entirety of the album is wondrously upbeat, merging 1960s surf-rock melodies, cosmic Americana, and the lean and mean grit of punk has never sounded so effortless. If you wanted to hear what it would sound like if Neil Young collaborated with The Marked Men, then this is for you. Dust Star carve out their own identity over the sprawling thirteen tracks. If you cut out dreamy bits that plague a lot of power-pop songs and introduce a heavy dose of DIY grim, you end up with Open Up That Heart.
Barreling drums launch the album into the stratosphere with the opener “Nothing In My Head.” It’s a raucous, demanding song that lays out the duo’s intentions for the rest of the album. Jurgen’s signature sing/yell vocals tear through the mix as tambourines and fuzzy guitars flood your ears. The song unrelentingly motors along like an engine on a one-way mission to self-immolation.
The songs on Open Up That Heart oscillate between endearing love tracks and trenchant critics of society. Songs like “Can’t Stop Thinking Of You” and “I’m Waiting For You” are catchy and playful and show off Wisch and Jurgens’ affection for the enchanting harmonies and honest love songs of The Beach Boys. “I would give most anything to spend the day with just us two,” they sing on the charming “I’m Waiting For You.” Mix that with lines like “Everyone’s a fascist and our President’s a turd” yelled in the garage-punk song “Turn Up The Heat,” and you get an album that never seems to let you settle into a routine.
“Ash” is undoubtedly one of the strongest songs on Open Up That Heart. It’s an upbeat surf-rock track underpinned with desolate and existential lyrics–“I’m moving closer to myself/ The gravitation is pulling hard/I’ve been locked up in my own personal hell,” sings Wisch. The intense lead guitar riff leads to a short drum break, and they even manage to sprinkle in bits of psychedelia. The lo-fi buzz that echoes throughout Open Up That Heart is addictive; the more you listen, the more you get lost in the lively reverb. I can’t seem to stop spinning the album, and neither should you.