Barely out of their teens, indie bedroom-rock slackers Disq have released their first fully cooked LP, Collector. The multifaceted Wisconsin mopes make jittery pop-punk, alongside veering, boisterous and tongue-in-cheek indie-rock, with shimmering power-pop anthems, world-weary lyrics and optimistic melodies. Most importantly, they do it fucking well.
Collector is aptly named. The record is an innate, vivid and intimate collective narrative of five twenty-something mid-western Americans finding their feet in a society they feel disenchanted by. Inextricably bound to their pasts, Isaac DeBroux-Slone (vocals/guitar), Raina Bock (bass), Logan Severson (guitar/ backing vocals), Shannon Connor (guitar/keys) and Brendan Manley (drums) articulate their disillusionment at the dystopian world around them with introspective, self-aware and wry observations, supported a triple whammy of guitars turned up to ten and the occasional melange of wacky electro sounds.
Fluctuating opener ‘Daily Routine’ laments monotonous day-to-day tasks and a tech-medicated existence with nihilistic irony, cragged guitars thundering behind frontman DeBroux-Slone, whose vocals become increasingly rugged as the song reaches its crescendo.
Dread filled ‘Loneliness’ anticipates turbulence in the aftermath of a break-up; DeBroux-Slone pining, ‘I wish I’d known I was wrong’, regretting his naïve desire for loneliness.
The charismatic ‘D-19’ is a mellifluous homage to a vintage microphone used by The Beatles in the form of a wistful love letter reminiscent of a Weezer track. Post-punk numbers ‘I’m Really Trying’ and ‘Gentle’ would sound equally at home on 1994’s ‘Blue Album’.
Alas, reminiscent of the 90s indie scene they may be, Collector is too dynamic, too versatile and too alive to be labelled as derivative of its corollaries. The quintet has channelled a myriad of influences and fused them with their collective musical sensibilities to create a unique, accomplished and ingenious debut album filled with nuances that both compliment and challenge genre norms.
‘Collector’ is a grand salvo of teen angst and innocence. With each listen the subtleties of Disq’s masterful debut become more apparent, the everyday nature of all ten tracks allowing greater resonance and intimacy with their audience. In a city with no defined sound the Wisconsin quintet have been allowed to flourish in a scene with no boundaries, and the sound they’ve created is pretty damn cool.
