Album Review: Dead Air Disco- Then By The Quiet
Alright so here’s the deal—in an effort of full
disclosure, I should mention that the creative force behind Dead Air Disco, Mr.
Jason Lajter, has been following the blog and has “liked” the Anhedonic
Headphones Facebook presence. Recently, he contacted me to mention he had
release an album over the summer under the moniker Dead Air Disco.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m always a little hesitate
when folks hit me up and mention that they want me to review their record. I’m
not a tastemaker, and now with how little time I have to dedicate to this blog
right now, I don’t want to get in over my head with promised reviews of things
I have no time to listen to or even write about.
I also try to keep this place current, so something released
in the summer—well, talking about it in January 2015 is kind of like breaking
one of the rules I have for the content I generate.
Anyway, since Bandcamp doesn’t work on my computer in the
newsroom for some reason, I was finally able to dedicate a little time to Dead
Air Disco’s debut album, Then By The
Quiet, over the weekend as I was shoveling my driveway. Yes, streaming from the mobile version of Bandcamp on my phone is a horrible way to
listen to music, but honestly, shoveling the stupid snow has never been more
fun.
An incredibly raw and visceral album, Then By The Quiet is, in a sense, your hard rock past tumbling out
of the closet. It’s very easy to hear the influences of space-rock/alternative
rock outfits like Hum, Black Lab, and to some extent, Girls VS Boys; the
industrial sneer of Downward Sprial-era
Nine Inch Nails; and even some of the heavy riffage of “art metal” purveyors
the Deftones. Yes, somehow Lajter manages to cram all that, and more, into over
an hour of music that is never derivative, yet seems incredibly familiar to
your ears.
Dead Air Disco, however, doesn’t set out to make “fun” music—Then By The Quiet is a dark, aggressive,
moody, and despondent listen. Production-wise, it’s unpolished and unhinged,
but that’s what makes it so charming and endearing; the guitar riffs are heavy
as hell and the drums pound hard. It’s a refreshing and honest album.
But don’t let all these descriptors scare you off—Lajter doesn’t
allow a knack for hooks and pop sensibilities to get lost in the noise. That
fact is very apparent in tracks like “Rattle Your Bones” and “Vertigo-Go,” and
even in some of the heavier moments like “Return to Zero.”
Then By The Quiet
is the kind of record for anyone that grew up on “alterative” rock in the
mid-1990s. If you ever headbanged, if you ever listened to The Downward Spiral with headphones on so your mom wouldn’t hear
the swearing, if you ever wore an oversized White
Pony Deftones hooded sweatshirt—you’ll catch a glimmer of your past in this
collection of songs. No matter how far removed you think you may be from “rock”
music—the instant you hear one of those metal riffs rattle through you, you can’t
help but smile.
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