Between 2020 and 2025, Boston band Duck & Cover released a succession of digital singles and EPs that showcased their sometimes ragged, sometimes retro, often enjoyable rock sounds very effectively. The material didn’t necessarily reach beyond a cult audience, but the band’s various college rock and noisy power pop influences often struck a chord with those who stumbled across the band’s work.
2025’s semi-punky ‘Bored of The City’ was actually one of Duck & Cover’s finest numbers to date, and this didn’t escape the notice of Rum Bar Records. Taking the digital wares from that six year stretch and adding a previously unreleased nugget, they gave the material its first physical send off at the end of that year with the fourteen track ‘No Hounds In The Cluster’ – a collection that plays brilliantly as an album in its own right.
The previously unreleased ‘What Is Life’ is actually a track that should be familiar to many – whether or not Duck & Cover have been on their radar. It’s a cover of the classic George Harrison number from 1970, stripped down, roughed up and given the college rock treatment. Shorn of the brass and other orchestrations that Ph*l Sp*ctor drowned the original recording with, it’s melodic charms still shine. The lead guitar riff is massively distinctive, and even shared with a rougher edge, its descending melody catches the ear instantly. The verse works well when rocked up just a little, and although hearing a different vocal feels a little odd at first, but frontman Chris Wissman more than holds his own when adding a slightly rawer edge, without taking away too much of the original melody. It’s debatable as to whether some of George’s more ardent fans will like this, but full credit must be given to Duck & Cover for thinking a little outside of the box by choosing this, when most similar bands would’ve just plumped for something from the Mission of Burma or Camper Van Beethoven catalogues…again.
Armed with a dirty riff, this comp’s title cut blends the finest in melodic punk and hard rock sounds, before wheeling out a twin lead guitar sound to create a huge musical hook. Throwing themselves headlong into the meat of the arrangement, Duck & Cover’s choice of rough and ready vocal gives the number the air of being influenced by ‘Made To Be Broken’ era Soul Asylum, before a raucous lead guitar break and shouty refrain create an even more incendiary climax. In and out in under two minutes, it proves an effective vehicle for shaking the audience into life. The slightly punkier ‘Burn The Ships’ makes great use of a speed driven riff, a careening dual vocal and a Parasites-ish sound, adorned with a guitar tone that’s a little more college rock than straight up pop punk. In terms of capturing Duck & Cover at full thrust, everything grabs the attention immediately, but in terms of overall memorability, it’s the lead guitar work that steals the show by dropping in ascending and descending riffs that act as a very effective musical hook.
Kicking off with an overdriven guitar riff, the ever fantastic ‘Bored In The City’ hits with a huge punk ‘n’ roll riff, which is used equally as effectively between the verses, giving D&C plenty of punch. Between those riffs, the track opts for a near perfect blend of punkiness and retro college rock sneering, ending up with a sound that could’ve made the band stars in the mid 90s. The sound may be immediately familiar, but the playing is stellar throughout. There’s a dirtier sounding guitar dropping in occasionally, a huge bass grumble supplying the band with a fierce bottom end, and the lead vocal, although a little rough in places, summons almost as much power as a shouty Dave Pirner. Opening with a pogo-worthy riff, ‘Two Shots’ sounds like it’ll be another of the band’s punkier affairs at first, but as things progress, the number introduces a shouty vocal and a surprisingly metallic edge. You’ll hear traces of Pixies in the basslines and bits of very early Foo Fighters in the guitar work, but there are still elements of the old Minnesota college rock scene cutting through the track’s most melodic aspects. It all amounts to the kind of number that sounds great when played loudly, but in terms of lasting appeal, the knockabout qualities make it this release’s least essential cut. The Bob Mould-esque riffs that open ‘Bleeding Edge’ immediately raise the bar – as does the number’s very 90s inspired bassline – but neither are a match for a rousing chorus where harmonies bolster something that could’ve remained an all too simple shoutalong. Much like ‘Two Shots’, this number from 2020 is an indication of how much rougher Duck & Cover were in their earlier years.
The intro of ‘Bad Blood’ offers a huge amount of musical variation on previous tracks, presenting something that sounds like a grubbier take on an old school glam rock stomper. This clearly allows the band to really pull together on a huge riff. There’s a big 70s heart, but this is offset by a world of shrill, very 80s lead guitars and a 90s style vocal, before ‘Methistopheles’ teases with a slow intro, before breaking into a punky workout that pushes the drums to the fore on a recording that sounds like one of The Lawrence Arms’ better arrangements augmented by a stronger vocal. Despite some of the musical elements being a little more disposable, a repetition of the title creates a decent earworm in time, and as if to pre-empt anyone claiming the punky elements here are a little too trashy, a middle eight is powered by a metallic riff and a doomier atmosphere, showing a very different side to the Duck & Cover sound.
‘Momento Mori’ pretty much ups the ante in terms of the band’s punky/sleazy side, thanks to a sneering vocal reminiscent of early works by Jesse Malin, whilst the crunchy riffs bring the usual mix of late 80s hard rock with immediate effect. It takes all of a verse before Duck & Cover have genuinely hit their stride and reeled you in. Beaneath the fuzzy guitars, a solid bass line anchors the great riff, further steering this opening track to greatness, but it’s the arrival of a hugely melodic lead guitar break that makes the performance. It is pivotal in the way it manages to create a bridge between the band’s sense of grit and melody, but it provides an important link back to the band’s love of classic rock and grubby punk moods, with guitarist Daniel Sussman displaying a great tone throughout. Dropping back into more 90s fuelled rock with overdriven guitars, the chunky, mid tempo ‘Lucky 17’ uses a blend of harmony vocals and chugging rhythms to serve up something that Butch Walker might have shared during one of his noisier spells, and with a blend of stomping rhythms and howling lead guitar, ‘Help Myself’ is a pure celebration of a trash-rock aesthetic. It’s the kind of track you’ll have heard from countless others – blending the sleaze of New York Dolls with the crunch of Warrior Soul – but for those hankering after a bit of late 80s nostalgia, its wantonly grubby feel will definitely appeal.
The brilliant ‘Attention Economy’ explores a punchy sound that blends early Soul Asylum with traces of Thin Lizzy. There’s something about the deeper vocal that seems to carry the ghosts of an old Lynott narrative and this is very much amplified by a riff that dances dangerously close to the band’s ‘Renegade’ era, complete with brief twin lead. However, at its heart, everything is still recognisable as Duck & Cover in top form. The darker side of Wissman’s voice provides a superb counterpart to the tune’s late 70s mood; the repetitive vocal melody creates an impressive hook even when the lyrics don’t especially stick, and looking at the whole package, these three minutes push further towards that perfect Duck & Cover recording. Elswhere, ‘You Wreck Me’ opens with the kind of riff that’d make you believe the band have resurrected their AC/DC-like swagger from the past, but once Chris starts to sing, the penny drops. This is a great, hard rock infused cover of the Tom Petty song (originally from the essential ‘Wildflowers’ LP) and despite clinging onto Petty’s core melody, a pumping Cliff Williams-like bass, a lead guitar with a howling edge drenched in feedback, and a suitable amount of distortion really help it to fit more naturally with the band’s self penned tunes. In some ways, they’ve just amped up the original arrangement, but that’s all it needed for them to deliver a genuine banger and make the tune their own.
Another highlight comes at the very end of this fourteen track celebration when ‘Girl From Nowhere’ – originally the lead track from 2024’s ‘Trash Fest’ two-tracker – drops into a world where Duck & Cover’s preferred grubby rock meets a strong power pop core. The verse has a really buoyant feel with muted guitars and drums sounding like a distant echo of something from Holly & The Italians overlaid with rockier guitar, but it’s the chorus that really shines, when a guesting Chrissy V adds a great harmony over a very accessible hook. Those elements alone would make this a standout, but the unexpected return of Thin Lizzy-esque twin leads takes everything into the stratophere in terms of bringing a rousing melody to the fore. If you’re approaching Duck & Cover as a first time listener with this disc, you should seek out this track immediately. In some ways, in a world of shortening attention spans, it’s a travesty that this is isn’t given more of a priority within the running order.
Despite almost all of ‘No Hounds In The Cluster’ previously circulating in some form, the material plays very well as an album in its own right. ‘Bored of The City’, ‘What Is Life’, ‘No Hounds’ and ‘Girl From Nowhere’ are definite standouts, but hearing everything together, it serves as a great demonstration of how Duck & Cover have grown as musicians and songwriters. As a body of work, it also shows how consistent their output from 2022-2025 actually is, and how they’re a very natural fit with the Rum Bar family. A recommended purchase!
October/November 2025
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