By Aaron Calvin
Entertainment Editor

Desaparecidos means “disappeared ones” in Spanish. It’s a reference to people who vanished without a trace during various conflicts in South America in the 1970s and ‘80s. It’s also the name of a politically charged Midwestern punk band that released one album in 2002, toured for a while until and as their name begets, they disappeared. Until recently, that is.
Conor Oberst, known for his more popular project, Bright Eyes, formed Desparecideos over a decade ago. Oberst has recently turned his attention away from that project to focus on his old punk band. They’ve added a slew of tour dates and have been slowly releasing new material. One of the tour dates brought them to Webster Hall and I went to see if the raw energy and desperate anger still survived in this band.
The first band on the bill was States and Kingdoms, a bland name for a bland band comprised of middle aged men. It replicated a sound so middle of the road between Coldplay and Radiohead that it makes for an astoundingly ineffective sound.

In contrast, Joyce Manor followed. Joyce Manor specializes in short, blunt and lyrically devastating songs. Their set was furious and unrelenting. I had been a fan of both Desaparecidos and Joyce Manor before the show, but thought their touring together was an odd pairing. After I saw them at the show, however, I understood. They were the perfect band to get the crowd angry and warmed up for the main act. They brought the kind of emotional ferocity that Desaparecidos would bring in a more political fashion.
Desparecidos

came out to the stage to the booming sound of a menacing political speech, picked up their guitars and showed the crowd– that had shown up to see them after an 11-year hiatus– that it hadn’t lost a bit of the powerful outrage that made its one and only album so beloved. The guitars crunched, squealed and roared with feedback throughout. Though his once quavering has evened out, Oberst had a vocal intensity that has been embittered by age. The songs he wrote so long ago in outrage at the blind consumerism and inept overdevelopment that was engulfing America, are still relevant.  The songs he wrote are still just as applicable now. And Oberst is still pissed.
The band paused between a few songs to deliver snide remarks and pontificate on various political causes and beliefs. Desaparecidos first album, “Read Music/Speak Spanish,” was named as a to-do list for things that a younger Oberst wanted to learn. Having accomplished that, he’s now sharpened his political ideas and now, instead of the generalized anger that characterized the first album, the band’s new songs pointedly attack or support various people and causes. “MariKKKopa” concerns real sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, a man who is an outspoken enemy of illegal immigration. Another song, “Anonymous,” includes the anthem words of the notorious organization of the same name.
I’m not sure how I feel about the new politics of Desaparecidos and their alignment with far left progressive movements. Some of the lyrics to their new songs seem physically violent and support some radical responses that I don’t support. But to a 21-year-old who used to be an angry 15-year-old who rode his bike around small Midwestern town listening to “Read Music/Speak Spanish” on repeat, the show was a rare treat: a once beloved band that left too soon only to return years later and sound just as go

od as you remembered.