Review: Dispraised (Self Titled)
I stood in a dark alley, fog billowing everywhere. A grimy heavy door opened, awaiting my entry. The room was dark, musty, and certainly questionable to enter, but I just purchased the rawest album in this dank venue that speaks to my punk rock heart. None of this actually happened, but that is where this album takes me. Rewinds me back to 1996 with raw, aggressive, unapologetic truth.
This 4th self-titled album from Dispraised is worth your time, especially if you like to thrash a little and throw beer (or soda) cans at the government. The very definition of “dispraise”: to speak of as undeserving or unworthy, censure (meaning strong or vehement expression of disapproval), disparage (meaning to speak of or treat slightingly, depreciate, belittle), encapsulates the message behind the band.
I absolutely appreciate their heart in “Rot Alive” with their dispraising lyrics:
Political gods with their plastic crowns,
Preach salvation as the world drowns.
Wages starve while the markets feed,
Families buried beneath their need.
Debt is a chain that bites the skin,
No honest fight that the poor can win…..
No wage for life, just a wage for graves,
History’s been wrote for kings, not slaves
Faith is a whisper against the noise,
A fleeting spark the world destroys
Cold nights cut with an empty stove,
Dreams decay where the workers go.
Powerful statements for anyone who has been caught in the grinding wheel of life, and feels hopeless for it to change. The challenge the band gives in this song, I believe, is to not buy the lie and change the future for our children. It is up to us to teach our kids a better way because we do not want them to suffer to make the greedy comfortable. A rebel heart with a purpose has always been my favorite kind.
This international line up comprises of Tom Mong (vocals, Idaho, USA), Donovan de Necker (guitar/bass, South Africa), and Eliseo S (drums, Argentina), who are signed with Thumper Punk Records. The international collaboration certainly feeds into the depths of their topics. They have a broad spectrum of life cultures to create relatable topics to everyone.
When I first heard Dispraised, I wasn’t impressed. I listened with a jaded heart, and found myself slightly annoyed. Because abrasive, jarring music can do that to us sometimes. So I sat on it, and tried, tried again. This time I found myself enjoying the brashness of their truth and the old skool skate punk hardcore style music.
Their music is available on their Bandcamp page https://dispraised.bandcamp.com/
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