Dusted is Brian Borcherdt (Holy Fuck, LIDS) and Leon Taheny (Final Fantasy, Rituals, Bruce Peninsula).

You may have heard their other bands; but have you heard Dusted?

You should.

Wanting to explore a different sound, but unsure of where or how to find it, Borcherdt spent a December weekend in Nova Scotia.

Alone and unable to sleep in a cold, dank cabin, he drew musical inspiration from his sparse surroundings.

Fueled by a psychedelic hum underneath a veil of low drone-y distortion, Total Dust is Borcherdt's revelation.

Most bands don't record through a small, blown-out practice amp. You may find, however, that it works -- as the guitar fights its way through, only the most important notes survive.

That's how Dusted sees it, anyway.

Their songs don't exist to be overproduced. They're recorded lean and they stay that way. In fact, it's almost impossible to manipulate anything when your studio is either a small converted garage or a rural cabin "stocked" with a scattered drum kit, a bass synth, and a tambourine.

That's why every track was laid completely bare -- stripped of all unnecessary instrumentation so that what remains is sometimes melodic, sometimes haunting, and always integral.

Before even one song had been released, the band signed with Polyvinyl (international) / Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada) and played a show with labelmates Deerhoof and of Montreal.

Their performance challenged the limitations of a two-piece: vocals and guitar expelled over a raucous backbone of live drums, 808 samples, and bass synth.

Missed it? No bother. What will be remembered is what's coming next. And that starts now.