The Disengagement

The Disengagement are the latest indie upstarts to spring from Canada and a welcome addition to a canon which already features bands such as The Arcade Fire and Metric. Masters In Escapism is their sophomore effort. Whilst never sounding too far from their contemporaries it nonetheless features an eclectic mix of ten tracks, from the drunken pop sing-along “Head Radio” to the Foo Fighter(ish) “Photosynthesis”. “Counsellor” has a nice Americana feel to it and jagged post-punk riffs persist throughout “Shakeup”. Lanny Cox has a refreshingly laid back style of singing whilst intelligent and thoughtful lyrics sprinkled throughout (see ‘You bring Revolver/ And I’ll bring the Rubber Soul’, ‘Outside this home lie wolves that hide inside sheep’s clothes’) mean that the result is an entertaining collection which never grows boring and that if anything, it is perhaps a little too short.

- Michael B. - Leicester Bangs

You ignore the West Coast long enough and eventually they try to sneak some awesome albums by you without you noticing. This sophomore release from Stephenville native band The Disengagement is a tasty slab of guitar-driven rock with a distinct 90’s indie throwback edge to it. The album is busy and the sounds are densely layered with great inventive guitar lines and rambunctious drum work throughout. The songs are full and rich, but are thankfully left natural and unpolished with a just-right level of murk present to ease your head into a pillow of guitar fuzz. If I had to be a boring music reviewer and compare them to other bands, I’d say they’re kinda reminiscent of a poppier-sounding Built to Spill with some Washing Machine-era Sonic Youth thrown in for good measure. A thoroughly enjoyable hard plastic disc from out of left field.

— Patrick Canning - The Scope (newspaper), Nov 19, 2009

Antigonish-based Newfoundland quartet The Disengagement return with their sophomore album, Masters in Escapism. Released on September 30 through the local MAKE Records imprint, this invigorating ten-song set is sure to please old fans and garner new ones as well.

Masters in Escapism opens with a mouthful of potent post-punk flavor on the album’s title-track. Simultaneously, the band evokes the urgent pop-rock of latter-day Sonic Youth, complete with Thurston Moore’s flame-lick vocals.

“Head Radio” swaps Thurston Moore for a convivial Ellliott Smith or Marcus Congleton (Ambulance LTD). A soft, Vines-like melody opens “Head Radio” and culminates in an exuberant group-chorus. While it might be a bit of a cop-out to compare any poly-phonic sing-along to Broken Social Scene, The Disengagement capture a spirit akin to that of the beloved indie rock consortium.

The Disengagement take a moment to allow fans to catch their breaths with the reflective “Counsellor” which conjures the spirit of Elliott Smith, and not just vocally, this time.

Angular guitars over tumbling, thudding drum-work almost allow “Deader Than Ever” to pass for a Joy Division B-side (minus ninety percent of Joy Division’s bleakness). “Deader Than Ever” really comes alive when singer Lanny Cox interjects himself just as listeners get the impression that “Deader” might settle as an instrumental jam.

The tambourine-accented “Photosynthesis” opens like the Foo Fighters’ hit “My Hero,” but any semblance of the Foo Fighters quickly dissolves in favor of The Disengagement’s own hard rocking sensibilities.

“Shakeup” is ideal for any fan of nice, stiff riffs with off-kilter interplays of guitars, bass and drums, while brooding bass on the fatalistic “Choir Victim,” which also
features the only ounce of acoustic guitar on the album, ushers in a more serious tone for the rest of Masters.

Chords ring out on the reserved and distant yet personal “Human Depreciation.” Lead guitar enters like a zephyr and carries the song into a bongo-and-shaker-filled outro.

Finally, “Dylan” closes the concise album in surprisingly disorderly fashion: with swirls of dissonant electronic noise.

Don’t be so quick to change records yet though. If you let the track play for another seven minutes (or skip through seven minutes of silence), you will be treated to raw audio
of about twenty people crammed into a small room singing to a pre-recorded track. That sing-along goes on to become the group chorus in “Head Radio.” The hidden track is a fitting close, emphasizing the “all-inclusive” nature which the band really projects.

Masters in Escapism is a lively, energetic record full of sure-bet fan favorites. If you ever get a chance to see The Disengagement (and inevitably, you will), give the
satellite dance channels elsewhere a rest, and seize it. Go out and enjoy some live music. Stick around too, and maybe one day, you’ll ?nd yourself crammed in amongst a mass of sweaty, beer-soaked bodies, making an appearance on the next Disengagement record.

- Leslie Chu
The Xaverian Weekly, Volume 118, Issue 5

- Xaverian Weekly, St. Francis Xavier University