Once upon a time there was a band called Grifter. They played dirty stoner grooves and were pretty sweet. Then they fell down a hole and died.
Ah damn, I never was very good at story telling.
Anyway, the various members didn’t fall down a hole and die, fortunately. Two of them (Ollie and Foz) ended up in the aptly-named Disgraceland, a raw and raucous punk rock outfit whose love of Iggy Pop, Mudhoney, and the Butthole Surfers is more than enough to get SonicAbuse on board. A fun, ugly racket with a dose of humour is the order of the day and, with the gloriously bizarre Penguins Can Fly, the trio (completed by bassist Chris Glew) can once again be found lowering the tone over the course of five fuzzy tracks.
That Stooges influence is immediately laid bare on opening cut The Pig’s Ear. Groovy and fuzzy, it pinches a little of Mudhoney’s gnarly groove and, in Ollie’s delivery, a touch of mclusky just for good measure. Throw in a gang chant chorus drawn straight from punk rock’s heyday and you’ve got one hell of an introductory number. This, plus the fact that Disgraceland have found a production job worthy of their live power, makes for a great first impression. No less impressive is Kim, an ode to Sonic Youth’s awesome bassist. A rambunctious follow up, it hauls itself out of a mire of grazing feedback before battering the listener over the head with a lurching groove that owes as much to Josh Homme and David Bowie as it does to the Ramones and, inevitably, Sonic Youth. As a life-long fan of Sonic Youth’s skronky noise, it’s incredibly cool to hear a band play tribute to a fellow artist with such a beguiling mix of authenticity and power, bringing their own sound to bear while drawing on the fundamental elements that made their subject matter so compelling. It’s a fucking great tribute.
While I’m tempted to simply listen to Kim on repeat, I guess the review has to go on and so off we go, into Melvins’ territory with the gloriously silly The New Jive. A crackly skit that takes in barber shop, ska, and a touch of UFO before unleashing a frantic chorus as payoff, too few bands have the innate humour to pull off something inchoate and make it work… buth then Disgraceland always were a bit special.
It’s back to business (more-or-less) as usual with the thunderous Lurch which, with elements of The Clash and Ferocious Dog embedded in its lyrics, is as close to an old school punk rocker as Disgraceland come. It leaves the surf hued A Gentleman Of Impeccable Character to nicely wrap things up. With its initially frantic pace and hook-laden riff, it emerges as a straight-up rocker, only to segue into Fugazi’s nimble, dub-inflected territory just as you think you’ve got it all sussed out. A brilliant song, it’s the perfect end to a near-perfect EP.
Too few bands in the UK effectively tap into the mix of humour and wide-eyed experimentation found in the US alternative rock scene but Disgraceland have it nailed. Across five short tracks, they draw on influences from both sides of the pond, throw in plenty of humour, and an awesome tribute to Kim Gordon that’s worth the price of admission alone. With great production, grab the EP, catch the band live and keep them on the road – trust me, they deserve it. 9/10
