Louisville welcomes again the garage kraut space swamp that is Disappears, this time at the intimate and rad Zanzabar. Disappears heads out on their first major headlining tour in support of their debut full length for Kranky, Lux (out April 13), and we’re all kinds of stoked to present it. Austin’s nasty damage trio Woven Bones joins in on the fun. Additional acts and ticket information are forthcoming, but for now, pen that shit down in your planner real hard.
Last Thursday was awesome. Though Tortoise boasts the pedigree and equity of “legendary,” I was actually more pumped to see Disappears. And they were utterly devastating. I always appreciate a band as loud as a Saturn V, and Disappears delivered the goods – disgustingly chunky guitars, tape echo on every mic, neanderthal drumming, reverb that shook Headliners Music Hall to its core – this band is ridiculous. Disappears is truth.
As Brian Case discusses in our forthcoming interview, much of the set was very new material that may find its way past their Kranky debut Lux, out April 13. Unsure of the title of this one, but Disappears embraces the motorik like a loved one and cultivates decibel shredding more expansive than Manifest Destiny. Believe:
“Black Cross” was in fine form, as well:
Tortoise was also a treat to see live, though I’d be remiss if I didn’t honestly say that I enjoyed Disappears more. This probably had more to do with tertiary factors than the band’s actual performance. Tortoise was as tight as ever, but I felt their live show this time around suffered by not having, say, a visual element. Disappears didn’t need one, as Brian Case is a beast on stage, but the post-rock quintet, outside the double drumming extravaganza and John McEntire switching instruments every five minutes, hid behind their stacks of synths and computers – opting more to noddle in a detached sense, much like a jam band, than to engage the crowd. However, a couple of moments truly stood out, especially when Tortoise reached into their heavy metal bag and brought the motherfucking ruckus, as evidenced below. As an added bonus, you get We Listen For You’s Zach Hart’s mighty dome in the first video:
Overall, I still greatly enjoyed seeing Tortoise up close and personal – a very excellent bill all around. Keep your eyes on Disappears, though. There’s a statistically significant chance that, if our God is a merciful and loving god, this Chicago collective will fucking dominate 2010. Tortoise and Disappears storm Cat’s Cradle in Carborro, NC tonight and DC’s Black Cat tomorrow.
The folks at ProdSimp were rad enough to give us a pair of tickets to give away for the Tortoise and Disappears show tomorrow night, February 11, at Headliners Music Hall. Both bands rule hard, it’s going to be great, and you’re probably going either way, so why not save some coin and participate in our contest? To enter, send me some lyrics that Sir Wesley Willis could’ve penned about either Tortoise or Disappears (or both in the same song). I’ll start:
You are a rocking maniac
You were in The Sea and Cake and Gatr Del Sol
Millions Now Living Will Never Die is a rock and roll joyride
You really whip a polar bear’s ass with a belt
John McEntire
John McEntire
John McEntire
John McEntire
See? That was fun. You may either enter a comment below or shoot a message to kb [at] thedecibeltolls(dot)com. Need to see that shit by tomorrow at noon EST, and you’ll be notified by email that yours was the most awesome. You must either live in Louisville or be able to reasonably make it here to be eligible. If you don’t win, there will still be some tickets available at the door tomorrow night at 8 p.m., so don’t sleep on it.
Somewhat of a strange bill, but I’ll take it. Two Chicago brain burning luminaries, Tortoise and Disappears, will be storming the castle known as Louisville’s Headliners Music Hall. While Tortoise is legendary, I think I’m more stoked on Disappears. Sofa king loud, dude. There are only a few select dates, and you can peep them on the Disappears blog here.
Tortoise and Disappears
Thursday, February 11th
Headliners Music Hall
1386 Lexington Rd., Louisville (map that shizz)
9 p.m. / 18+
$15 advance / $18 at the door
On Sale 12/4 @ 10am (at ear X-tacy and Ticketweb, presented by ProdSimp)
Disappears have the Anton Newcombe approach to the music business – give all your shit away on the Intarwebz for free, and worry about sustainability later. I dig that. Since I’ve been meaning to czech out these dudes for a while, it was rather easy. Thanks, guys.
Of course, it would be silly to say that their albums are worth every penny, unless they were majorly a bummer. But I’m happy to report the Disappears clearance special is a helluva deal – I just downloaded all three releases, and they’re really great. I would’ve certainly bought these records – I love this group. I prefer their latest release Live Over the Rainbo, and perhaps that’s a rather telling aspect of Disappears. If you sound best live, you’ve probably got a good group of bros to rock with. The group, out of Chicago, actually reminds me a lot of Louisville’s Invaders (who have a similar name as well – so double association there). Reverb-heavy fuzzy guitars, punchy rhythm, a shoegaze aesthetic, and a touch of retro chic on acid – Disappears are everything that’s great about rock and roll.
Disappears are touring with the Black Angels this fall, and as such, are playing a couple of festivals in the area, including Nashville’s Next Big Nashville (duh) and Lexington’s Boomslang. I reckon I’ll catch them at one of the two, and I reckon you should do the same. Their MySpace has all the dates.
And sweet sassy molassey, you can, as mentioned, grip all their recorded work on the band’s caps lock-heavy blog here! That rules. Disappears rule. I rule. You rule. Everything rules. Except this – that does not rule.
![tortoise-disappears1 [Photos + Video] Tortoise and Disappears - Headliners, Louisville - 2.11.10](http://thedecibeltolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tortoise-disappears1.jpg "tortoise-disappears")
![disappears [Photos + Video] Tortoise and Disappears - Headliners, Louisville - 2.11.10](http://thedecibeltolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/disappears.jpg "disappears")
![tortoise-disappears2 [Photos + Video] Tortoise and Disappears - Headliners, Louisville - 2.11.10](http://thedecibeltolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tortoise-disappears2.jpg "tortoise-disappears2")
![tortoise-disappears3 [Photos + Video] Tortoise and Disappears - Headliners, Louisville - 2.11.10](http://thedecibeltolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tortoise-disappears3.jpg "tortoise-disappears3")
