SADDLE CREEK
The best slacker album in at least 20 years, the Wisconsin five-piece do a better job of sounding like Pavement than Stephen Malkmus has in a long while. Although Daily Routine and Trash are perfect careless rock, there’s a whole lot more going on here than just Juno fantasies. Collector also encompasses Weezer power-pop, Beck funk and, on I Wanna Die, the type of arrestingly powerful ballad that would be hailed as a late-period masterpiece if Neil Young released it. Isaac deBroux-Slone and Raina Bock’s lifelong friendship has honed Disq’s deceptively taut playing, but their other recent recruits have added intrigue, too: guitarist Logan Severson’s Gentle twinkles brightly among the grunge. If Disq can keep it together among all their numerous sideprojects, they could become something truly special.