Track Listing

1. What's New For Fall
2. Man And Wife The Former (Financial Planning)
3. Manana
4. Great Omaha
5. Man And Wife The Latter (Damaged Goods)
6. Mall Of America
7. Happiest Place On Earth
8. Survival Of The Fittest/It's A Jungle Out There
9. Dollars
10. Hole In One

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9660 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Contrary to the hilt, Desaparecidos head honcho Conor Oberst seems to be running his career in reverse. Before Read Music/ Speak Spanish--and though he was only born in 1980--Oberst was the callow poster boy of the alt-country set, releasing four lyrically fraught, musically mature albums as leader of Bright Eyes. With that band on hiatus, however, Desaparecidos' debut marks a kind of splenetic regression. While most people grow out of jagged, intermittently cacophonous indie-punk, Oberst seems to have grown into it. Much of Read Music/ Speak Spanish, then, howls and tilts like a rather grisly reincarnation of the Pixies, or like some emo bands--The Dismemberment Plan, say--at their most impassioned and uncompromising. Oberst's always had a feverish way with words and emotions, as Bright Eyes' superb Fevers And Mirrors attests. And that band's subdued, tuneful settings certainly place his histrionics in a more original context. Still, it's hard not to be impressed--or at the very least winded--by Desaparecidos, and by Oberst's screeching indignation at the soulless corporate takeover of everyday American life. Cathartic stuff for everyone involved--not least the listener.--John Mulvey

CD Description
Debut album by Omaha, Nebraska punk rock band featuring Conor Oberst, better known as Bright Eyes. Intense, raw and ragged, with Oberst eschewing the confessional lyrics of his alter ego in favour of direct socio-political comment. Their name, Spanish for "the disappeared", refers to the kidnap andmurder of dissidents by South American juntas.

Customer Reviews

One of the most perfect records ever made.
Don't be fooled, the title of this review will not apply to all of you. Personally I am a Bright Eyes fan, and I adore the alt country whinings of the wonderfully talented Conor Oberst. However, while Bright Eyes achieve a sublime sense of a broken human, this record does not. It is entirely different. For one, essentially it's a pop punk record. The anti consumerist lyrics speak from Obersts screaming voice, articulating what I suspect a thousand american kids in garages are trying to achieve in their own bands, and the music to accompany this is angular, heavy, and astounding in it's simplicity.
Nothing here is majorly complicated, as with Bright Eyes, but as with Bright Eyes again, it fits so brilliantly well it can only leave budding musicians with their aspirations set. A brilliantly inspiring record for anyone anywhere that wants to be in a good band. This is a great album, with not one song that could come under the 5 star rating. Everything a good album by a good band could be.

I bought this album while listening to it for the first time
The fact that I can't even pronounce the band's name yet and heard only the first 3 songs before buying this album speaks volumes!
An eclectic blend of crunching, addictive guitar riffs, odd but highly satisfying ambient background sound effects, all culminate into a completely unique sound as soon as the tenderly screamed vocals kick in.
A superb example of this is Greater Omaha.
Remeniscent of Thursday & At the drive in, but arn't scared to explore a wide variety of music styles.

angry, energetic and heartfelt
"it can be murder on your folk career/to make a rock record with the Disappeared" sings Conor Oberst, a particularly choice quote given that this album will be anything but murder on his career, folk or otherwise. After gaining substantial praise with his 'Fevers and Mirrors' album, Oberst turns away from the introspection of Bright Eyes, and turns his attentions to what is happening to his country under the Bush regime, attacking everything from Disney to Starbucks, whilst beating up himself along the way.

The music could not be further from Bright Eyes, with its driving punk guitars, random screeches of feedback and seething lyrical anger, but you never doubt Oberst's sincerity, this is not just a genre-shifting exercise. If you're still lamenting the passing of At The Drive-In, I cannot recommend this record fast enough. Buy it.