DISQ
DISQ:
Raina Bock: Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Isaac De Broux-Slone: Lead vocals, Backing Vocals and All other instruments
Written, Arranged, and Performed by Disq
Mixed by Anthony Saffery & Isaac De Broux-Slone
Recorded in Isaac's basement
Produced by Isaac De Broux-Slone
Released January 25, 2019
via Saddle Creek Records
It has been nearly three full years since the release of "Disq 1" (released July 11, 2016), the debut album from Madison, WI's Disq, the power pop duo consisting of life long friends, bassist/songwriter Raina Bock and songwriter/singer multi-instrumentalist Isaac De Broux-Slone.
When I first heard that album, I was astounded to the point of immediately reaching out to their Madison music community peers for any information about them ("Disq?! They're prodigies!!" gushed Modern Mod/Dash Hounds singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist Alivia Kleinfeldt), and then to De Broux-Slone himself all before I had even finished listening "Disq 1" in full.
Just as with the debut and sole album releases from their contemporaries in Post Social and Modern Mod, respectively, Disq's debut album was fully realized as the participants were still high school students yet the artistic reach within the album fully belied their comparatively young ages. While the album did indeed display an end-to-end "kid in a candy store" dynamism, "Disq 1" was unquestionably a work of enormously enthusiastic yet such highly controlled artistry that showcased a seasoned, mature and almost veteran approach to music composition, performance, production and most importantly, the songwriting.
As Bock and De Broux-Slone are both self-professed Beatles enthusiasts (De Broux-Slone is known throughout certain circles as being able to meticulously deconstruct and therefore reconstruct Beatle songs completely on his own in his home studio for fun--I have heard his cover of "Help!" and it is stunning in its perfection), their deep studies in the classic power pop genre were in full evidence within the compositions on "Disq 1," deftly showcasing the excellence and depth of their knowledge.
Where the spirits of The Beatles, Todd Rundgren, Big Star, Badfinger and the like were clearly in the songs' DNA, what Disq achieved so grandly were not copycat selections but wholly and defiantly original songs starring two young, idiosyncratic artists who already sounded like no one else other than themselves.
"Disq 1" was an album that not only made me want to listen over and over again (which I most certainly did), it instantly made me curious as to where the band would head next. And now, three years later, we have a taste...or better yet, a sumptuous first bite of the future music that will most assuredly arrive.
In late January of this year, Disq released a new two sided single via the Saddle Creek record label and it is a BANGER!! Continuing with their musical aesthetic which blends power pop, garage rock and lush psychedelia, Disq conceptually and lyrically builds from their debut of teenage angst into songs of a grander universality and the cumulative effect is of an even higher quality as before: the single makes me want to immediately hear it all over again while making me salivate for whatever arrives in the future.
A SIDE: "COMMUNICATION"
-With the sound of slightly warbled, unsteady guitar, "Communication" opens gently, yet with a quiver. Once the drums and the entire groove of the song kicks into gear, the song finds is gait allowing De Broux-Slone to make his first statement, which becomes a series of a questioning pleas to finally a pained confession.
"Can you hear me--understand what I said
I know you don't understand the way I felt
You come near me--could you hear what I said
Can you hear me--I don't know what I said
and again communication takes me farther away
and the blame falls in between perception
communication takes me farther away
will I change or will it stay this way"
Already, we can see that we are far away from the exclusivity of the high school hallways and into an on-going interpersonal quandary and aspect of the human condition that exists upon a continuous loop for each and every one of us as we attempt to navigate society and ultimately, the world. "Communication" questions if we, as individuals, are being heard, understood, ignored, accepted or rejected by others and how those feelings and impressions formulate how we communicate with ourselves in addition to others.
Additionally, and especially when De Broux-Slone sings "I feel busy--I don't know where to go," I wonder if the song could also be viewed as a commentary concerning our level of distractions with the business of living life, most crucially our smartphones and social media, distractions that affect our ability to communicate and to being fully understood, sometimes by those closest to us.
While the song's narrator is lost in a state of confusion, the music keeps barreling full steam ahead with a propulsive riff and rhythm that brilliantly deviates from its track within a gloriously arranged and performed zig-zag mid section before returning to the song's main theme complete with lyrical guitars flowing through the grooves until crashing in a brief wall of feedback.
B SIDE: "PARALLEL"
From the start, Raina Bock grounds this absolutely spectacular song with a growling, menacing bass performance which not only sets up the track's main groove but hauntingly sounds like the dark, insecure thoughts of the song's narrator relentlessly creeping up on him in an endless pursuit, threatening to take over his mind and heart.
"I feel like you've been slipping away--we walk beside but I never see you
If I did, would you have something to say--I know you do but I feel like never
Do you think about me every day--I wonder if you lied when I told you something
Something's sinking and I hope it's not the both of us and my feelings about you..."
As the narrator's anxiety begins to mount, Disq echoes the emotions by gradually speeding up the tempo with each increased worrisome thought, evoking the feeling of spiraling out of control before settling into a disturbed stasis.
"But I don't remember asking for my life to get torn down
But it hit me so shocking--hit my head all around
When I told you that I hate you--didn't want you to believe it
When I told you that I love you--don't you understand I mean it...
...am I parallel to you--how can I know what's true..."
And with that, Disq has delivered a palpable exploration of psychological ache and pain, concluding with an explosive psychedelic finale.
For two songs that richly explore the concept of disconnect, Disq have superbly created material that connects instantly. With a musical approach that packs a dynamic instrumental punch combined with strong lyrics that are direct, intimate and expansive, Disq again proves that they are indeed the real deal as they are able to generate material that can easily go toe to toe with long established artists and force them to look over their collective shoulders.
Just as with "Disq 1," I am fully impressed, amazed and enthralled with De Broux-Slone and Bock's artistic skills which unquestionably prove that they are serious musicians who are unwilling to waste any opportunities that may arise to showcase their abilities. And to that end, it is clear as a bell that they are having a blast doing just that. Isaac De Broux-Slone's remarkable vocals warmly draw you inside each selection as rapidly as his instrumental prowess with Bock, as they have devised precisely how to make each song a musical universe unto itself, therefore making a full statement with the complete work. In doing so, they have truly made it a privilege to engage with their music, as they are not remotely...ahem....phoning anything in, and never presenting even one moment that feels jaded or drenched in any sense of self-congratulatory indie rock superiority.
"Communication" and "Parallel" are songs tailor made to be blasted from open windows even as they break your heart and trust me, Disq is a band I implore you to keep your eyes and ears at the ready to receive them because I am feeling that they might be on the rise.
Since the release of this single, the band has already received positive attention from the independent music press based upon their triumphant performances at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX. Furthermore, the band has also been hard at work recording the next full length album, this time receiving assistance from their auxiliary members when performing live, Post Social's Shannon Connor (guitar) and Brendan Manley (drums) and Logan Severson (guitar), who is soon to unveil his own musical project called Lameena.
Such is the talent that resides here in Madison, WI and Disq have proven again that they stand especially tall. Yet with "Communication" and "Parallel," they have ascended even higher.
"COMMUNICATION" b/w "PARALLEL"
is available at...
BANDCAMP:
https://disq.bandcamp.com/album/communication-b-w-parallel
SADDLE CREEK:
https://saddle-creek.com/collections/disq/products/communication-parallel?variant=12786458361879
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