Luster – “Missing You”

The Los Angeles indie scene has become the shoegaze revivals de facto hotbed as of late. As an unfortunate side effect, it’s maybe become more difficult to discern which artists bubbling up are more so just about an aesthetic rather than sonic sincerity, made all the more blurrier (pun intended) when you’ve got some of them out there who front enigmatic when the reality is a little digging will discover ties to major label deals and big money PR already working to cultivate an image in their favor. Luster seem like the real deal, however, with a green flag being how you can’t find ANY information on them (or pictures for that matter) beyond a digital footprint leading back to a handful of singles dating back to 2018 with last year’s Dopamine Loop EP being their most recent. Former Deafheaven and Nothing bassist Nick Bassett has been a recording constant, which is a positive co-sign. “Missing You” is their latest single, and keeps building the mystery organically in their favor through a dense, dreamy swath of morbidly romantic dreamery that doubles down in crushing emotions in its false ending. While Luster’s style of shoegaze honors traditional stylistic textures, there’s a heaviness to its weight and tattered edge that makes it messier than most other sounds happening adjacent in the scene. Because hedging your bets on being pretty only gets you so far before you ultimately get forgotten.

Luster’s “Missing” single is available now on Funeral Party.