Disco Inferno-D.I. Go Pop

For Fans of: Bark Psychosis, AR Kane, Talk Talk, being smugly superior about the general obscurity of your music

 Disco Inferno has recently been enjoying a slight revival and boost in popularity due to the reissue of their "5 EPs" compilation. Very slight, diminutive in fact. Like that guy you know with the Godspeed You! Black Emperor tattoo probably listens to them now. Or the shoegaze obsessed music historian everyone loathes now points to them as the missing link in the genre's development. Intolerable hipster adoration aside, the band deserves every fan that they acquire. They are essentially a hipster's wet dream as far as bands go. Their style is something of a combination of Wire's bass and synth heavy post-punk, The Jesus and Mary Chain's dreaminess, and, surprisingly, Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys penchant for finding seemingly random, yet appropriate and emotionally affecting samples.

 Yes friends, this was the early 90's in Southern England. Music turned the corner from the navel-gazing sensibilities of post-punk acts like Joy Division and The Cure to the equally navel-gazing sensibilities of Slowdive and Bark Psychosis. These early post-rock, shoegaze bands are endlessly fascinating. Coming seemingly fully-formed from the ether, these weirdos and socially awkward nerds made highly textured songs, changing the face of music. Disco Inferno is the unsung hero of this sonic exploration. Sure, Slowdive and MBV and Swervedriver are all distinct from each other, but they all seem to have the similar shoegaze sensibility of making songs that are waves upon waves of delay and distortion. DI, however, fit squarely in the genre by accessing the sweetest parts of goth rock and by being one of the few rockish bands to use samples effectively (a practice that I seems to have died out recently, maybe DI are the only true crafters of this art.) The album itself is exceedingly beautiful at times, distant at others. Often inviting and often dissonant, the ironically titled D.I. Go Pop is always surprising even after several listens. Contrary to what one would assume, the samples never seem intrusive in relation to the general structure of the songs, they are always necessary and fascinating. Indeed, the diverse samples often form an abstract, but engrossing, sonic picture which is principally evidenced on the song "Starbound/All Burnt Out and Nowhere to Go" where the chanting school children and the repeated snapping of cameras perfectly compliment the faithful bassline in creating a beautifully surreal experience.

  Bottom Line: In my experience, I often love a band because there are truly no other bands like them. The Velvet Underground, This Heat, and Can all spring to mind. I recommend that Disco Inferno join this imperial canon. DI's ability to create thoroughly enjoyable and unique songs through the use of post-punk song structure mixed with extensive sampling makes them an act that deserves universal respect. One can justify their entire discography upon that novelty, but I believe the music ought to speak for itself. Anyone who does not find the last 30 seconds of "New Clothes for the New World" to be one of the most sublime musical experiences is a fucking liar.