Disappears, The Borderline

Sparsely populated British debut of intense Chicagoans

by Kieron TylerWednesday, 01 June 2011

Disappears: White-light intensity from Chicago

Sometimes you stare at live bands and question why they bother. It’s a pact - the band plays, the audience looks on and claps. Last night’s debut British show by Chicago's Disappears raised that question. The night before, they’d played Amsterdam’s Paradiso and here they were at a venue in central London with an audience of 60 or 70. White-light intense, their conviction shone. This hypnotic show became a secret, even with the draw of Sonic Youth's drummer Steve Shelley in their line-up. But still, Disappears delivered.

It was as if music had stopped at the moment of art-rock's realisation of punk, yet had now become alive again

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