Unsane’s 1995 LP Scattered, Smothered and Covered is a classic in the Amphetamine Reptile discography, and one of the truly essential noise rock recordings. Surely you remember the “Scrape” music video! So when the band announced they’d be performing the album live in its entirety for a select series of North American shows, I finished in my pants. Having witnessed Unsane decimate a sold out Union Pool in Brooklyn some months back, I can’t stress enough how powerful and loud this savage trio are after all these years.

Even better, Keelhaul open nearly all the dates, which is awesome since their latest Hydra Head album Keelhaul’s Triumphant Return To Obscurity fucking rules nations. (If you like aggressive and slightly weird metal, this is your bag, baby!) Other openers (depending on the date) include Unsane member Dave Curran’s side-project Pigs, and fellow noise rock legends Today Is The Day. The New York City date, which takes place on Thursday August 5 at Andrew W.K.’s Santos Party House (tickets here) also features a set from Disappearer, the band that topped my Top 20 Albums of 2009. The tour culminates in an appearance at the opening night party that precedes the sold-the-fuck-out Amphetamine Reptile festival in Minneapolis. Dates and details are below.

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When it comes to metal and hardcore, 2009 has been an exceptional year for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The legendary Cave In officially reunited, played some shows, and released the four-song Planets of Old 12″. Converge dropped the highly-anticipated Axe To Fall, considered by some to be as good as or even better than their benchmark album Jane Doe. Hell, that band’s bassist Nate Newton even managed to secure substantial attention and overwhelming praise for Darkness Come Alive, the latest from his Doomriders side-project. In this somewhat incestuous collection of talented New England musicians exists yet another amazing group called Disappearer, who have given us possibly the best album of the year.

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I’ve given my Scraping Genius… seal of approval to Disappearer before, though that was based on the fierce Massachusetts noise rock trio’s fucking demo (which you can download for free). Those of you who loved those tracks will be happy to hear that Disappearer’s debut album is imminent.

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You read right, blog patron. For the mere cost of a compact disc, you can secure for yourself MILLIONS in return. But don’t thank Barack Obama for this imminent stimulus opportunity. Instead, thank the folks at Seventh Rule, the impressive indie that brought us Wetnurse, Light Yourself On Fire and now: Millions.

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My stars and garters, there sure are some super-spectacular noise rock bands plowing through their local scenes these days, a number of which remain criminally unsigned. Boston’s Disappearer is one such unseemly gang of morally bereft marauders, performing hard charging tunes that recall Unsane’s best moments cut with a moderate dose of stonerdom and even some Jesu-type metalgaze. The Stephen Brodsky produced demo (which you have no choice but to download for free!) will leave you dizzy with rage and hazy with bewilderment. The band is due for some shows soon in Allston Student Ghetto, MA and New York with such fine artists as Zozobra and prior “Why Haven’t You Heard Of…?” featured act Gods And Queens, the latter having recently released a sweet-as-hairpie debut on Robotic Empire.

-GS

[Gary Suarez can't believe it's not buttsecks. He also writes for Brainwashed and usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No.]