Soaked to the bone with reverb, this tape is psych as fuck! Disappears are a relatively new Chicago ‘super group’ featuring members of 90 Day Men and The Ponys. They’ve only a couple of seven-inches and this cassette (a reissue of an ultra-limited tour CD-R) to their name and they’re already the talk of the town – with good reason. Cleverly fusing the raw energy of garage rock with a spaced-out post punk vibe, Disappears channel everyone from Wire to The Velvet Underground to Kraut masters Amon Düül II. It’s a totally revved up sound that is as groovy as it is jagged.

The four tracks from the earlier seven-inches are included on this cassette, along with five newer tunes. “Needs” could be a Television song with its searing guitar melody if it weren’t for the singer’s baritone barking that sounds more like Jonathan Richman’s crooning than Tom Verlaine’s warble. “Marigold,” one of the newer tracks, leads off the proceedings (following some canned crowd noises) like a machine gun assault, its vigorous rhythm capable of inducing whiplash.

The low fidelity of the cassette format really works for this release, along with the live off the floor recording quality. The raw power of the Disappears sound is showcased extremely well. Those of you with tape decks in their cars should be rocking this at full-blast on all your travels. 9/10 -- Bryon Hayes (1 May, 2009)