Album Review: Disco Doom - 'Mt. Surreal'

Anita Rufer and Gabriele De Mario have been releasing music as Disco Doom for the better part of twenty years. They've toured with alt legends such as Built to Spill and The Breeders. They're back with their first new music in nearly eight years. What they've brought to the table is an eclectic mix of eight tracks that captivate and motivate the listener with indie goodness. Work on Mt. Surreal started in 2018, with the final version of what we hear today really being composed between 2019-2021.

This journey included a recorded version of the album in France that was scrapped entirely. Rufer and De Mario said via press release "That failure was important for the creative process because as a result, we recorded mostly with just the two of us...The writing, arranging, and recording was strong defined by being just us two and not working as a whole band." Though Disco Doom are a four-piece, Rufer and De Mario seem to be the creative core of this album.

Mt. Surreal is just that, a surreal experience of alt/indie with buzzing guitars, vocals that pop off the rhythm, and a backbone of skittish percussion work. As we listened to this one, it very much felt as if it was a blink and you'll miss what the group is doing. Disco Doom remind of 90's alternative, but with an updated hyper strangeness that grips listeners. Their rhythms are unexpected and leave you wondering where they are going to weave to next. Mt. Surreal is a good LP to pick up for those fans of acts like Pavement, Built to Spill, and even King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

Rating - 4.5/5