by Devon Chodzin (@bigugly)
I don’t live in Cleveland anymore, but after having been immersed in Cuyahoga River water for 26 years, a band like Disintegration makes perfect sense to me. The minds that brought you Profligate, Pleasure Leftists, Cloud Nothings, and Nothing Phase fit each other brilliantly on Time Moves for Me, the debut EP from the supergroup of the Cleveland underground. Somewhere between synth rock and post-punk, Disintegration charts an alternative path forward that is, simply, cooler. Their approach to goth aesthetics are both true to their emergence and forward-looking in their execution. The four tracks that make up Time Moves for Me solidify Disintegration’s distinct sound and each track has its own personality. It’s a stellar introduction.
“Carry With You” is lightning quick, offering industrial intensity with simmering rhythms that set up Haley Himiko’s broad range well. Her voice soars when she guarantees “I’ll hold the line,” with a delivery that is both chilling and human: Disintegration makes music for the cyborg within us. “Hit the Face” is even more danceable, with groovy percussion under icy syncopation, with Noah Anthony’s modulated vocals that sound as if they’re coming from nowhere. Synths swirl with a noisy frustration not far from recent hitmakers like Mandy, Indiana. Their sound is vintage but their execution is timeless.
The title track’s oscillating, syncopated synths and flicking guitar draw you in as Himiko hovers in her lower register, piling on the tension. Over five-and-a-half minutes, Disintegration ups the ante and retreats rhythmically, toying with intensity and imploring listeners to dance, dance, dance. Himiko sounds all powerful as she announces with unassailable clarity: “Time moves for me.” EP closer “Make A Wish” begins with the shredding garage-punk intensity and post-punk aesthetic impulses. The video is even cooler: filmed by Annie Avila and Adam Klopp (Choir Boy) with additional visual contortion from Nathan Melaragno (Imaginary Softwoods), the video embraces Disintegration’s maximalist exercise and harnesses analog and color to its fullest, brightest effect.
Cleveland has a formidable history with left-of-center punk, with bands like Suitor, Woodstock 99, and more charting unique paths forward in legendary local clubs. Disintegration is one of the most exciting forays from the scene in recent memory, a sort of meeting-of-the-minds that could only produce something with liquid, irresistible cool. Time Moves for Me clocks in at just seventeen minutes, but every second is loaded with the right balance of intensity, silence, luster, and charisma. Their approach feels right at home with Feel It Records, purveyors of the slickest underground acts who promise the kind of cool worth obsessing over. Time Moves for Me deserves to be savored.