D. I. GO POP

I feel like I've heard this record so many times I forget just how insane it really is. But every so often, I stop and realize: Wait, how are they making these sounds? Your first listen is probably going to be full of moments like this. It's one of those records, one of those all-timers that completely turns all traditional ideas about music on their head. Every moment on this album is an absolutely dense whirlwind of samples and natural noises. I wonder how many obscure R&B B-sides made their way into this absolute chaos, aside from the sample in Starbound. The first side is one of the most brutal experiences you can have in music. It sounds like a universe being randomly rearranged onto itself to where everything is a half-static mess of broken, grotesque noise. The only respite you get is the brief more serene segments in opener In Sharky Water, even though in the context of the song the water noises still make you feel in danger before the guitar attack kicks in. But it really comes to a head on A Crash at Every Speed. It's a spooky bassline, a voice, and nothing else even comes close to being recognizable. Just complete noise shred for the entire song, layers and layers of the natural chaos of the world being piled on top of itself. Oh yeah, I should mention there was almost no studio trickery on this album. The second side is much more psychedelic folk influenced. No less nihilistic, but relatively calmer after the insanity. Hazy natural psychedelia, like a musique concrete fever dream, still whirls around you, but it's more serene. Whole Wide World Ahead is gorgeously dark, a gentle ballad about how much the world is going to hell, and possibly the most folksy track. Footprints in Snow... indescribable. I'm not even going to try. After Footprints, it fades into dialogue of Disco Inferno arguing with their landlord. It feels kind of strange, but it's really one of those incredible album enders, like gently waking up from a dream and returning to reality with a sense of calm. If you've ever heard the end of Caroline, No by the Beach Boys you probably know what I'm talking about.

Like I said, this is one of those albums, one that nobody has even come close to replicating. Even Disco Inferno never made a product this extreme in the rest of their discography, despite the other great sampledelic post-rock. Some records I give fives on this site make me second guess my rating, like maybe it's a 4 but very close to a 5, but this one I'm sure of. I give this record the highest recommendation imaginable.