From: http://www.performermag.com/nep.recordedreviews.0710.php

The Big Disappointments —The Big Disappointments
Produced by Thalia Zedek
Mixed by Paul Kolderie and Alex Hartman
Recorded by KRM at Kissypig, Allston, MA
Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East


The Big Disappointments specialize in breakneck, country-tinged post-punk. Their self-titled debut has a couple of mid-tempo tracks, but these guys sure as hell aren't going to try and sneak a ballad past you. Opener "Only Here Only Now" slaps you with a stock blues riff accelerated to whiplash speeds, giving you just less than enough time to acclimate yourself before the vehicle lurches forward as the rhythm section enters, drums thundering along like a jitterbugging giant.

Production wise, the record sounds fantastic. It ought to —the record was mixed by Paul Kolderie, a name associated with The Pixies, Radiohead, and Dinosaur Jr., among other alt-rock heavyweights. While the vocals may be mixed a bit low for pop-accustomed ears, the mix is clear from start to finish, letting each instrument shine in its own niche amongst the group's chugging dissonance. The guitars are angular and cutting, but with balanced amounts of scrappiness and balls. The bass churns and bounces along with the aforementioned gargantuan drums. For a perfect example of all this in action, see track five, "A Warhead." It's one of the less frantic numbers, with tightly spaced, nicely fuzzed call-and-response guitar work over a heavily grinding foundation reminiscent of when Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club were at their gloom-rock peak.

The semi-discernable vocals rant and moan somewhere between the bass and the guitars. On much of the record, singer Eric Boomhower sounds a lot like a snottier Black Francis in his phrasing and delivery. There is also a nasal, melodramatic flair reminiscent of Jack White on the first couple of White Stripes records, before all the mandolins and bad mustaches. This likeness becomes especially apparent on bluesier numbers like "An Absolute Farmer."

While the band is insistently straightforward in their general approach to riff-layering and arrangements, they are good enough at what they do, bringing enough conviction, inventive structure and dynamics to make this a compelling listen from beginning to end.

(Hot Cave)

www.thebigdisappointments.com

-Jon Carter