Desaparecidos

Read Music/ Speak Spanish
(2002 Saddle-Creek)
Non Local - Omaha

By: Jodie Kautzmann (Lawrencerock.com Articles Editor)

When I first listened to Desaparecidos’ debut full-length Read Music/Speak Spanish, I was searching. I carefully pried into the album’s depths, quite expectant that I’d discover the words “Bright Eyes was here” indiscreetly peeking out from under a bed of healthy rock music.

Instead, all I found was a familiar vocal quaver and a couple of recognizable names on the album jacket. Desaparecidos and Bright Eyes may share frontman Conor Oberst, but each band’s musical journey ends at a distinctly different destination. Instead of retreating to a desert island of introspection, Read Music/Speak Spanish takes listeners on a guided tour of Anytown, USA.

And what better place to start than right at home? Opening track “Man and Wife, the Former (Financial Planning)” layers a driving guitar with a typical young husband’s confident promise of middle class comfort. Oberst assumes the role in loud exasperation: “…we’ll graduate that middle class/ Get a nicer car full of shopping bags/ So if you’re feeling sad, kind of detached, remember we wanted that…”

We shall return to tracks two and three. For now, let them serve as a time elapse that leaves us inside the brain of Mr. Typical’s disillusioned and disheartened soon-to-be-ex wife. Track four, cleverly titled “Man and Wife, the Latter (Damaged Goods),” discloses the woman’s exiting sentiment: “I’m a bill you pay, I’m a contract you can’t break.”

Tracks two and three go hand-in-hand. “Manana” vocalizes the egocentric, anthropocentric ideology that underlies the human gluttony outlined in “Greater Omaha.” Infact, “Manana” ends with a staged dialogue between Oberst and bassist Landon Hedges debating the infiltration of chain stores. This serves as an appropriate prelude to what some have already hailed as the best song on the album.

“The Happiest Place on Earth,” also released as a single late last year, offers a poignant glimpse of the current state of America. Oberst deftly injects patriotic stand-bys (“America the Beautiful”) with newly relevant lyrics. The pacification of daily life, corporate expansion, environmental decay, and the growing elusiveness of the American Dream all weave their way into this anthem of disaffectation.

Admittedly, Read Music/Speak Spanish is hardly an album of joyous exaltation. Luckily, the band’s melodically raucous musical style allows listeners to share the burden of social ills. The songs generally begin in a pop-rock vein, then steadily swell in intensity as the tempo quickens and Oberst’s voice flares with conviction. It’s nearly impossible to listen passively.

Desaparecidos frequently remind me of their label-mates Cursive, only with more fluidity. However, even amid such obvious comparisons, Desaparecidos definitely deserve to be acknowledged in their own right. From packaging to production, Read Music/Speak Spanish is a fulfilling marriage of raw rock power and social consciousness.