Review
Desaparecidos
Payola

Desaparecidos is the Omaha emo outfit led by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame. Payola is the band’s second album, and it’s been 13 years since they released their first album Read Music/Speak Spanish in 2002. Usually one of two things happens when a band releases an album after a long pause: Often it’s a huge disappointment, but sometimes it’s a praise-the-Lord comeback. With Payola, neither of these things really happened. It sounds like it just took 13 years for these guys to get back together for a solid record; Payola sounds like what it probably would have sounded like if it had been released back in 2004. On the other hand, six of the fourteen songs have already been released a couple years ago, so maybe the band has just been taking their sweet (or in Oberst’s case sour?) time. That said, the wait was worth it: Payola delivers plenty of angry, pop-punk-infused standalones that make this album a definite listen for 2015.

Payola is different from Read Music/Speak Spanish, which isn’t shocking considering that 13-year gap. While Oberst’s anger is still bleeding on this album (just like everything else he touches), it sounds like the band is having a bit of fun with that anger, or at the very least not crying over it. Read Music/Speak Spanish was really heavy on the emo, and listening to it would make me depressed at how fucked up the world is. Payola sounds like Oberst is almost laughing at how ridiculously fucked up the world still is, 13 years later. The riffs are still crunchy and catchy, but the band leans away from the emo sound and more towards pop punk on this album, letting you at least let you sleep at night while still giving you a full-course meal of social justice issues.

The first song, “The Left Is Right,” is definitely one of the highlights of the album. The single bursts with immediacy and synthy guitar effects that make for a grabbing opener. The immediacy makes sense: It’s about Occupy Wall Street (“It begins when we chain ourselves to the ATMs / Make a mess when we pitch our tents”), and calls for action for a catchy two-and-a-half minutes until concluding with a nihilistic “We’re doomed!” The last track, “Anonymous,” is an anthem for the hacker/activist group, and so Oberst’s movement loyalties bookend this album.

More current-events commentary continues on “Golden Parachutes,” which is my favorite song on the album. This time Oberst hovers his crosshairs over the bank CEOs who escaped the recession unscathed. One verse really stands out: “Now that you’re too big to fail / you’ll never have to go to jail. / When you own it you can rob the bank / A bloated Dillinger, a spray-tanned Jesse James.” It’s particularly poignant, but Oberst delivers it with a pop-punk catchiness that we didn’t see much of on Read Music/Speak Spanish.

“MariKKKopa” was released a few years ago, and the title gives away what it’s about. Right at the beginning Oberst gives us another poignant and catchy verse: “There is a lynching at Home Depot of the last-day laborer / in this sanctuary city with its anchor-baby births / They scream ‘It’s time we had some justice for the white race on this earth.’ / This place is strange and getting stranger.” While the sentiment is serious, the poppy way Oberst serves the vocals reminds me of the you-can’t-take-them-seriously band King Tuff. Then comes “Te Amo Camila Vallejo,” which might be the most singley single Oberst has ever released. The “Oh Camila!” chorus is an irresistible hook, and if it weren’t for Oberst’s throaty delivery, this song could have easily been from the pop-punk golden age of the 90s.

On top of the stand-out singles, there are some great little moments covering this album that really make it for me. There’s the subdued-but-driving riff during the verses of “Ralphy’s Cut” and the really goofy “ahhhhhhhhh!!!” at the end. There’s the dynamic jam-out-now-quiet-down of “Backsell” and its rhyming voiceovers. There’s the everyone-join-in “Come one, come all” chorus on “Slacktivist” that really made for a joyous moment in concert. Sure, there are some weaker tracks on this album, but pretty much every song gives you something to look forward to as you go through it. Ultimately, Payola makes me feel what Read Music/Speak Spanish made me feel: I really wish Oberst put more time in Desaparecidos. There’s a place for Bright Eyes, but Oberst’s anger is such a better fit for the pop-punk/emo side project than the soft indie mainstay.