Local rock-band, Disq, take on an adventurous sophomore album titled, Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet, out today on all streaming platforms.
Madison's musical claim-to-fame usually points back to UW--Madison grad, Yung Gravy, but for anyone really trying to get into the local scene, Disq is the band everyone has their eyes on.
The five-person rock group, formed by bassist Raina Bock and guitarist, Isaac deBroux-Sloane, are teetering the line between being a Madison band and being a band from Madison. They've toured with Greer, Whitney and (upcoming) Neko Case while also getting recognition from publications like NPR, Paste Magazine, NME, BBC Radio 1 and more. Bock even joined Sleepy Jane to open up for Phoebe Bridgers at Red Rocks. At the same time, they're playing venues like the free Orton Park Festival in Madison and a tiny room in La Crosse for Mid West Music Fest, always coming home to a full room at High Noon Saloon for a hometown finale.
Their new album, Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet, is playful at times, with plenty of bouncy production, intersecting broody lyrics about loneliness, capitalism and existential crisis. It thematically resembles their first album, Collector, but takes more risks in production and features Bock as a lead vocalist for several songs. It's refreshing and brave, but the album still feels cohesive and very Disq-like, which is a sigh of relief for fans of Collector.
I'm obviously a big fan of this band, and amongst Madison's niche, punky music scene, Disq is both growing quickly while also staying close to home. Mickey Sunshine, a group headed by Andrea Gonzalez-Paul, has been recording their own EP in deBroux-Sloane's basement, which Gonzalez-Paul writes about in this week's Microtones for Tone Madison. In the article, she name drops other Madison musicians in the network from Interlay to Mission Trip to Able Baker (who now resides in Chicago). Despite having the tools to grow beyond Madison, it's clear they also have stakes here.
I look forward to the new heights that Desperately Imagining will take them, and I'm sure there will come a day where Disq has to move away to better cultivate their careers. For now though, we'll be happy that we don't have to travel far for a show.