The Austin 100: Disq

By Stephen Thompson

Published March 5, 2019 at 5:01 AM EST

Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin

Genre: Rock

Why We're Excited: Disq injects its blurry and hard-charging power-pop with lyrics about disaffection, loneliness and a world where "communication takes me farther away." As Disq's members spread out beyond the Wisconsin high school where members Isaac de Broux-Sloane and Raina Bock first formed the band, their songs are bound to grapple more with a sense of modern isolation. But "Communication" makes it clear that they understand their strengths: singing what they know and piling on the wiry, gnarled guitars. (Disq now sports three guitarists, and thank goodness for that.)

Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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