Disq “Collector”
Disq is a fresh Wisconsin band started by middle school classmates Raina Bock and Isaac DeBroux-Slone. Now at 19 they recently expanded the band to a five-piece band and from the album’s beginning, it makes a great impression. “Daily Routine” is a very relatable look at modern drudgery as Issac sings “This is my daily routine. Spend my hours on a computer screen…” I love the video too, which borrows the appearance of old The Monkees TV show. The duo has a great knack for hooks and layered melodies reminiscent of Pavement, Weezer and Teenage Fanclub.
The earnest “D19” is a love song about a microphone (and not a metaphor for anything else). “Loneliness” is a great tune that builds to its defiant strummed chorus mourning a lost relationship, and “Gentle” is very much in the Weezer style, with a crunchy layer of fuzz guitar between verses. The tone shifts from the acoustic “Trash,” then it goes into the riff-heavy garage tongue-in-cheek nihilism of “I Wanna Die.” Each song is carefully constructed to fuse all of the band’s influences to a single distinct sound, so no filler here. Yeah, power pop is not dead to this new generation of kids. Highly recommended.
Assorted Artists “Garden of Earthly Delights – An XTC Celebration”
This is not the first artist tribute to XTC, that honor goes to 1995’s Testimonial Dinner. But Futureman Records new tribute is much larger (49 tracks!) and a more comprehensive selection from the entire career of this well-loved band. I really like it when an artist puts their own spin on Partridge and Moulding’s songs; a few good examples include The Shellye Valauskas Experience “Wonderland,” Chris Price’s acoustic “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead,” and Michael Simmons “Wrapped in Grey.”
With so many tracks here it can be hit or miss at times, but these talented artists with strong pop sensibilities can’t do much better than to cover some of XTC’s songs. Overall an impressive collection and downloads benefit The Wild Honey Foundation.