Disappears
May 2010
After witnessing blistering sets at South by Southwest and Pitchfork Music Festival last year, Stateside was fortunate enough to catch Chicago's Disappears at the intimate Empty Bottle for the official release of the new album, "Lux".
Formed in late 2007 by vocalist/guitarist Brian Case (ex-90 Day Men/currently in The Ponys) and drummer Graeme Gibson, the duo quickly recruited second guitarist Jonathan Van Herik (who featured in the post-punk band Boas alongside Gibson) and bassist Damon Carruesco and played their first show in early 2008.
Disappears began recording songs while opening for an impressive gallery of bands that included Wire, Black Angels and Cluster. Last year's "Live Over the Rainbo" was released, in limited edition, on CD-R, cassette and vinyl (on Rococo Records).
"Lux", (available on Kranky Records after a planned release on Touch & Go was scrapped), finds the band in excellent form, cranking out short, atmospheric blasts of reverb and rhythm (the label says "at the core it is minimalist head music").
The Empty Bottle set found Disappears trading in a disciplined construction of sound that relied on repetition and sustain, elements key to noted influences Dub and Krautrock. Driven by Carruesco and Gibson, the songs had momentum to spare and provided a solid foundation for the interwoven guitar lines (recalling a stripped-down Television) and Case's haunted vocal.
Disappears tours the U.S. this summer, sharing stages with Woven Bones, Sleepy Sun and The Thermals. The band has also announced that they are already in the process of recording a follow-up to "Lux": disappearsdisappears.blogspot.com.
