Irreal

Era, Disappears’ last album, was a revelatory, dark, dubby salvo from Kranky’s hard-rocking quartet, and this album strays even farther from the band’s garage rock beginnings, moving into a newly crisp, sharp, weirdly funky post-punk territory where the lead musician is the drummer. Lots and lots of negative space, as suggested by the song title “Navigating the Void.” Really kickass, like no other rock album I’ve ever heard—a bit like hollowed out versions of Don Caballero, Can, This Heat, Slint. All tracks are great, but my favorites are 1, 4, 6, 8. No FCCs detected.

1. *(6:39)—Medium-slow, heavy, tense, lots of bass and very minimal guitar.
2. (5:15)— Quiet intro, bursts in. Medium-slow, lumbering, really hard-hitting, mechanical.
3. (4:19)—Fast but subdued and laser-like in focus, with rolling drums.
4. *(7:12)—Slow. Heavy, almost metallic in places. Driving second half that builds and fades away into woozy ambiance.
5. (3:26)—Instrumental. Slow, dubby, with noise and minimal noir guitar.
6. *(6:31)—Slow, really funky and spaced out. Mix of wispy and machine-like guitar textures.
7. (5:30)—Fast, frantic, noisy, dense, definitely the most hyperactive song.
8. *(6:27)—Slow, hazy. Builds gradually, unassumingly pretty, reaches a nice, big conclusion that brings Glenn Branca to mind.