Esmé Creed-Miles and Evie Hilyer-Ziegler met at a Moth Club improv night in 2023 and built Cusk around the contrast between their playing styles. Hilyer-Ziegler handles precise string parts and high vocals; Creed-Miles plays loose rhythm guitar and writes androgynous lyrics. The five tracks here were recorded at Sunset Sound with Jorge Elbrecht co-producing most of it and Thad Kopec mixing throughout. One song, "Dooms Banjo", came from a separate session with Kopec and nods to the Brian Jonestown Massacre's sprawl.
The sound sits somewhere between grunge's slack tuning and the more delicate end of indie rock. Songs start as voice notes or fragments and get shaped through playing together rather than formal arrangement. That shows in the pacing: quiet stretches that suddenly kick, melodic lines that don't resolve where you expect them to. It's raw without being deliberately scrappy, and the interplay between the two voices gives it more texture than most two-piece projects manage.
They've supported DIIV and Geordie Greep since their first show in 2024, which gives you a sense of where they fit. This will appeal to people who liked early Sonic Youth or the more exploratory British indie bands that never quite crossed over.
