The Dustdevils (sometimes styled as DustDevils, Dust Devils, or DUSTdevils) were a noise rock band which was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

for most of its history. It was active from the 1980s to the mid 1990s, and was among the first artists to be signed to

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apar ...

. Its members included bassist

Mark Ibold Mark Alan Ibold (born October 17, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known as the bass guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement, with whom he recorded four studio albums. Following Pavement's initial break-up in 1999, Ibold joined the a ...

, who later joined Pavement and Sonic Youth in 1992 and 2006, respectively. Ibold met the band while working at a restaurant in the East Village and performed on their album ''Struggling Electric and Chemical''.

Sasha Frere-Jones Alexander Roger Wallace "Sasha" Frere-Jones (né Jones; born 1967) is an American writer, music critic, and musician. He has written for ''Pretty Decorating'', '' ego trip'', ''Hit It And Quit It'', ''Mean'', '' Slant'', ''The New York Post'', '' ...

also played guitar in the group for a time.

History

The band's history first dates back to 1984, when British expat Michael Duane, the band's guitarist, met Jaqi Dulany (also known as Jaqui Delaney and Jacqui Cohen), the band's Australian-born vocalist, in New York City. The band then relocated to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

from 1986 to 1988, during which time they released several records on Rouska and Keith Gregory of

the Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

joined the band as their bassist. They released a Kramer-produced 7" entitled "Is Big Leggy" on TeenBeat Records in 1989, followed by ''Geek Drip'' later that year and ''Struggling Electric and Chemical'' in 1990. The Wharton Tiers-produced ''Struggling'' was released jointly by TeenBeat and Matador, and opened with a cover of "Hip Priest" by The Fall, which was described by

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

as "a mind-blowing masterpiece of corrosion and decay." Jaqi and Michael split in 1993, which left Michael to look for replacement vocalists. Also that year,

Gerard Cosloy Gerard Cosloy (born 1964) is an American music industry executive. Biography Cosloy was raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Boston. While he was in high school, he became involved in the local hardcore punk scene, put together m ...

stopped playing with the band as their stand-in bassist.

Discography

*''Seeds In The Spoil''—1987 (Rouska) *''Rhenyard's Grin''—1987 (Rouska) *''Mother Shipton''—1987 (Rouska) *''The Dropping Well''—1987 (Rouska) *''Gutter Light''—1988 (Rouska) *''Geek Drip''—1989 (Matador) *"... Is Big Leggy"—1989 (Teenbeat) *''Struggling Electric and Chemical''—1990 (Teenbeat/Matador) *"Extant"—1996 (Matador)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from New York City American noise rock music groups Musical groups established in 1984 Matador Records artists Musical groups disestablished in the 1990s TeenBeat Records artists