Heathen Disco Music Reviews #0105 (July 1, 2025)

Over here, I don’t consider music as a way to block out the world at large, but rather as a coping mechanism. Knowing that people were out there this week putting these releases in front of us should tell you all you need to know about the resilience of our society, about what happens when we get together and celebrate. All five of these records have something important to say, and three of them do it without uttering a single word.

Still unpacking my place but a week in and the move has been the right choice. The misery of watching people trudge home from the train and the wetbrains howling like dogs upstairs are now a fading memory. May we all find the next better place.

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WE CONTAIN MULTITUDES Minako 2xLP (Expert Work)

Gigantic volume-war masterclass instrumental trio triangulating between NYC, Tucson, and London – special for a lot of reasons most instrumental trios aren’t, partly because their lineup reunites guitarist Jon Fine and drummer Orestes Morfin, two-thirds of foundational ‘80s indie rock trio Bitch Magnet. That long shadow counts for more than just history, as the technical formality that group added to the general conversation shaped entire lineages of bands for decades to follow. They don’t let us hang for very long without passing over the goods, as the group stretches out over seven tracks with immediate riff-god worship, a rhythm section (completed by bassist Simon Kobayashi) that knows how to hang back, how to deliver a fill, how to counterpoint guitars with tremendous low-end, and overall a confidence in ability and a level of comfort in putting all this out on the line. I’ve seen Jon play in just about every incarnation of his groups, from a Vineland gig I booked in 1995 (where I met his drummer and my dear friend, the late Jerry Fuchs, for the first time), to the very first Coptic Light show, and lastly at the Bitch Magnet/Moss Icon one-night-only reunion in NYC. I’d consider him a bud as well, as he was part of the crew of personal idols (along with the late Justin Chearno and select others) who helped me find my footing when I moved to their stomps 25 years ago. But that relationship, and those days, are not clouding any of the feelings this music evokes; I can’t remember ever hearing Jon sound like he was having this much fun on a record before. From the 16-minute level set of the title track opener, this one just keeps unfolding, growing woolier and encompassing more of that joy as it goes on, especially in cuts like “We Are All Fucked” and the break-laden “Bathroom Drugs.” Theirs is a sound I would’ve loved 30 years ago, and on the rollercoaster life’s thrown since then, Minako delivers a catharsis that feels long overdue.

COPIERS Third LP (Future Heart Works)

More wordless activity from this Kentucky quartet, who’ve gone beyond the excited rudiments of the last time I checked in (late 2020, with their first album) into heated instrumental debate on this new outing. Guitar(s), bass, synth(s) and drums doin’ what they do, with a low, somewhat muted overhead that traps all the heat in the attic, where you’re sweatin’ it out with them. The keys invite a discord and otherness to a dialed-in group who keep it tight and atmospheric (apart from a spare breather on “Spaceman”), and who build up some real low-ridden tension in 14-minute closer “Bad Neighborhood.” Prowess showing, skills evident and trotted out for close inspection, and it passes admirably.

PRYMEK, FUCHS, ROSE Disagreements, Vol. 1 2xCD (Island House)

What is this, all instrumentals night? My dearest just got back from a week combing the desert in Utah, ran into a soap box derby in SLC but nothing as righteous as this anywhere in town, three heapin’ handfuls of guitar/keys/drums freedom from somewhere in the area. Discordant in reasonable amounts, but this one percolates on the togetherness, texturally luxuriating in defined jazz-like tones from Nic Rose’s Hammond-esque tones and Chaz Prymek’s similarly itchy guitar lines across these lengthy pieces (four studio, one live). There’s a language easily spoken between the two, with healthy interjections from drummer Mike Fuchs, and it harmonizes in the areas you wouldn’t expect, and gets under the skin in all the moments where you would. The wrong hands would make this skronk in obnoxious, look-at-me sorta ways, but in this space – particularly in the heat of opener “Cold in Blue Hands” and simmering boiler “Stucco Housing Development,” they impart lessons some spend years trying to learn. Really rewarding listen, check it out.

THE NATIVE CATS “Aces Low” b/w “Lose Count” 7” (Rough Skies)

Chloe and Julian are back at it for two more rounds – “Aces Low” plays it melancholy, with arpeggiated lead synth and bass/slack key guitar complements for a rainy day with the cards stacked decidedly against, and “Lose Count” pogoing around the flip with more curtains of handheld electronics draping over a jackhammering beat, radio static and a bottom that gets drowned like a rat in that downpour, only to come dutifully bounding forward again. One of the most unique and iconoclastic duos the Southern Hemisphere’s underground music scene has had to offer over the last 15+ years gives us a rare appearance; what’re you gonna do, sit there? No!

CHRONOPHAGE Musical Attack: Communist + Anarchist Friendship 7” EP (PPM)

A friend caught Chronophage in NYC last year, said they sounded like early Teenage Fanclub. Since recordings hadn’t caught up yet I was kind of surprised to learn this (the group was certainly playing towards a weedier point far from the center when I saw them at the old Bric-a-Brac at least six years ago), but this new EP more or less tracks with that report. It’s not much of a surprise given the range of that most recent Donna Allen solo record, but the group’s constant reinvention hits a peak here, four songs that play like Built to Spill were told they have two minutes left in the set and they’d better figure out how to play four songs in that time. A band that’s always had promise and talent to spare is now completely operating as a single unit with a shared purpose, and it’s a pleasure to behold.

See ya later — Doug M