Disappears
Pre Language

I am a firm believer in the influence of context in music. Or better yet, music that connects us to the contingency of situations. Since the invention of the Walkman in '79, music has conquered the space around itself, it has learned to walk with our legs, allowing us to enjoy it wherever we are. A Copernican revolution for all listeners, allowing us also to soundproof ourselves and isolate/alienate as we wish.

But personally, I have always preferred the opposite effect, that is, the ability of a song or an album to make me remember what I was doing while I was finally getting into it. I am still able to easily connect places, actions, thoughts linked to different listens.

The third album by Chicagoans Disappears, for example, will probably remind me of Düsseldorf. And precisely the path between the Altstadt and my hotel, a brief 10-minute walk, taken early in the morning or in the evening before dinner, for 4 days. A nook of life that would have gone lost, but thanks to Disappears it is embedded in memories, and in the future. In hindsight, there may be affinities between Düsseldorf, home of the German motorik sound, and something of this Pre Language, but this is entirely coincidental.

The group can boast the refugee Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums, now permanently, smooths just the psych noise edges of previous “Lux” and “Guider” for an approach indebted as much to kraut robotic as to the sharp guitars of post-punk (the opening “Replicate”) as to the immense legacy of the aforementioned Sonic Youth (“All Gone White”, “Fear Of Darkness”), even recalling at certain moments forgotten 90's bands like the fabulous Girls Against Boys (“Hibernation Sickness”). Good so far, excellent in the hypnotic and slow tracks: “Minor Patterns” with its almost dub reverberated guitar; “Love Drug” and its unexploded tension; “Joa” with robotic rhythm on PIL-style guitar and still GVSB-like singing.

So open your ears, but also your eyes, when listening to music around, memories are just around the corner, you just need to look for them even in the simplest and seemingly insignificant things.