Disbeware Disbeware cassette
This tape came with an encouraging note saying the guitar and drum duo is “by old punks out of Portland.” With a strong political bent, lo-fi recording, and drums mixed way down low, the songs can’t help but have a bit of a folk-punk vibe. The best parts are the scattered moments of off-key-but-somehow-melodic singing that you might recognize as the special sauce spicing up bands like SHOTWELL and HICKEY. The recording is so weird, and the songs are so slow and earnest, that it inspires nostalgia for the countless ephemeral basement-and-porch creations in small towns made by punks who probably grew up to be square…or went on to be famous. Liberated, self-aware, and a little gross.