Into Thin Air

Noisiness seems to come standard with a lot of alternative acts today, somewhat hovering the fine line between noise rock, thrash, shoegaze and post-metal. As long as the noise isn’t in vain, who says any of those labels matter? Disappears, a Chicago-based act, kicks off their latest release, Era, with plenty of reverb and distortion. Of course, they’re not at My Bloody Valentine levels, but it’s enough to garner some attention.

“Girl” is just a blaring guitar wasteland, making use of effect pedals and just overall noise. Brian Case and gang pound away while readying the listener for what’s in store. “Power” is a funky, industrial-ish practice in how ’90s Disappears can sound. Case affects a sort of dark wave snarl reading out parts of his lyrics. It’s quite odd, actually. There’s something very German about this track. No one would be surprised if the fictional group Autobahn (the lovable electro-nihilists from The Big Lebowski) released this on one of their LPs.

“Era,” the title track, continues the themes from “Power,” this time leaning more towards post-punk. The heavy, rumbling toms and tasteful reverb easily make this one of the stronger tracks on the album. “Weird House” is a the band’s take on new wave. A little Gary Numan and maybe some older Oingo Boingo make this track quirky, surreal and maybe dreamlike. The bass synth seems kinda out of a place. A bouncy, distorted bass guitar would’ve suffice.

Era isn’t exactly a groundbreaking release– nor is it some boring/stagnant effort– but it’s interesting to say the least. The band’s willingness to explore sounds without confining to a certain genre is definitely their strongest trait. Era is the kind of album you listen to one afternoon, maybe even two, but it’s not really making its way into your mornings or late evenings.