Cool is dead. Of that, Discomister are certain. If I were given to being cruel, I might suggest that their album precisely makes the case that cool is indeed dead. I mean, what could be less cool than a couple of school teachers making a concept album about ‘uncertainty, vulnerability and authenticity’? What could these guys, from an ultra-middle class corner of York, know about authenticity, when contextualising their work against a backdrop of an era when ‘social media, reality TV and the World Wide Web have killed off our rock ‘n’ roll recluses, tortured geniuses and mystery men’? Whether or not one agrees with this contention (and I’m not entirely convinced), there’s something compelling about their eclectic mix of psychedelia and electronica.
A low-slung bass and bleepy beats are juxtaposed on the trippy psychedelic noise-rock opener ‘Magical’. There are hints of Perry Farrell about the vocals, but it’s less offputting than you might expect. The Doors-y desert blues rock of ‘Cool Cowboy’ is considerably better than the title suggests, musically, if not lyrically, and the proggy ‘Your Faults’ is a hypnotic tune with elfin vocals and backwards guitars and… well, it’s all in the mix. The approach isn’t always successful: the dubby Asian-tinged groove of ‘Dissolve’ is clumsy to say the least. The uplifting baggy dance stylings of ‘I Am You’ has quite a 90s vibe, with hints of Jesus Jones and James. As Hugh Dennis would have said in his Mary Whitehouse Experience days, ‘it’s got a good beat.’ and the best thing about the self-consciously cosmic goth ‘Kettle’, with its pseudo-easternisms is its brevity.
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Nevertheless, their eclecticism is admirable, and for the most part, they do pull it off: ‘Traitors & Saints’ is a slow-burning standout and is delivered with a spaced-out nonchalance, and there’s no way you could accuse Discomister of being predictable or playing it safe. Or going for the mainstream mass-market for that matter.
Discomister Online
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