On March 16th, Central Coast-based band Dudeo Perez released their sophomore album, King of Last Year.

Following the success of their debut, the band has taken the scene by storm with live shows all along the coast, performing with artists like Tijuana Panthers and headlining at San Luis Obispo’s very own Shabang music festival with the likes of Bane’s World and Cherry Glazerr. 

Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of rock bands, Dudeo Perez combines the pop sensibility of artists like The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys with the energy and volume of alt rock bands like Dinosaur Jr.. The album itself is full of heavy-hitters, and “Arnold”, a stand-out track in the album, pairs the lyrics and vocals of Jackson Reynosa with Noah Boland’s skillful guitar leads perfectly. Boland, who’s also a Cal Poly senior, stated, “We put a lot of work into this album, and we learned a lot about music and what it means to us along the way. It was an honor to share the experience of creating the album with Spencer, Jackson, and Jackson, and we are very excited to finally show the world what we made together!” 

After only a year of being together, Dudeo Perez is now a staple in local music scenes spanning from LA to SF. King of Last Year is an album that you do not want to miss. It is very rare for me to listen to an entire album start to finish without a single skip; however, Dudeo delivered a masterpiece that can keep an audience engaged cover-to-cover. Their tight-knit fanbase is one of the strongest followings for a local band that the Central Coast has seen in a long time. Like many, after hearing them for the first time, I was hooked. The curiosity that comes with listening to something fresh and new, blended perfectly with the familiarity of their underlying influences, allowed me to resonate with each track on my first listen. This definitely isn’t the last time you will be hearing about Dudeo Perez; however, it very well might be your last chance to be put onto something this big before their undoubted rise to stardom.

You can hear Dudeo Perez’s latest release here along with a curated list of songs that inspired them through their creative process. 

Christian Brahos is a KCPR staff member and a Cal Poly Agricultural Business junior. Image credit to Dudeo Perez.