The Disraelis Might Not Be So Bitter

Just when fans were beginning to think that Toronto post-punk shoegazer band The Disraelis might be dead, one curmudgeon caught them playing the Piston in Toronto on Dec. 4, a tribute to Spaceman 3/Spiritualized and benefit for former founding member and artist Natty Brooker.

They performed a spirited cover of the 13th Floor Elevators via Spaceman 3 cover of Roller Coaster. The appearance is one of the first indications that they might be resurrected in the near future after coming thisclose to a split.

Even their label, Optical Sounds, had splashed that "while the band is close to a split, we're hoping some months away from each other will bring them back better than ever," leaving their debut EP Demonstration the only real remnant of their work.

The Disraelis deliver gruffly sung vocals with stripped down instrumentals.

Formed in 2006, The Disraelis consist of Cameron Ingles (bass, vocals), Dave Barnes (drums), and Colin Bowers (guitar). However, before anyone gets too excited, Bowers' name is absent from the band's Facebook and MySpace pages (but Bowers still calls himself a "Disraeli" on his page). You can find a rough single there called Secret, but it's not as dynamic as anything on Demonstration.

The album received a lukewarm reception for the Toronto underground darlings, with early critics calling them too closely tied to the cool English bands of the 1980s but without anything original. But that's the way it goes sometimes. Early reviews are dismissive, leaving the band to work that much harder up hill to get under people's skin.

And then, after a few months or years when the band builds its own following, the same boneheads who dissed them start scrambling back saying they miss them. Let's keep it real. The reverence makes them relevant. And they don't fit in all that tightly to most floated comparisons.


The best songs from Demonstration are The Bitter Ash and Blackmail, but the entire five-track EP is worth the download if for no other reason than to support the band. Maybe you'll even help convince them to get back to work.

If you still need more convincing, you might still be able to find The Bitter Ash as a free download via bandcamp. Just remember to contribute something if you like the single.

The Disraelis' Demonstration Makes The Grade At 7.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Named after the Cream album of the same name, the band originally set out to be creative with a more stripped-down guitar, bass, and drums sound. And they never let a synth line take charge of everything or anything they were trying to produce, making them a great pick for the slowest new release weeks in the music business.

Demonstration can be dowloaded from iTunes. Demonstration by The Disraelis is also on Amazon.