Las Resenas Casuales. Baden Bah! "Futuro/a"

Baden Bah! "Futuro/a" (p)2014 self-released

This short album was recorded in Aranda, a home to Sonorama Ribera music festival, right after this year's Sonorama edition was over. The recordings were made very fast (I believe it was like one weekend or so), so it hardly took a month for the whole cycle of recording, mixing, mastering and then presenting the final result to the main digital platforms.

Such overspeeding of the process (I suppose it's not the kind of usual approach even for the truly indie band) didn't spoil the quality. So if you liked "Aleph" (the previous album of baden bah!) like as I did you will definitely like the new one as well - like as I do.

The bandmembers have changed the looks. From the white shirts with black ties and 'aleph' symbols on their sleeves they switched to 'pop art' colourful suits and bright images. Musically, without taking major steps aside the band nevertheless incorporated some additional elements to their core power pop sound.
The tubes in "Iguazu" made me curious of how that song could sound in 2-tone ska key. The Madness-like tubes return in the next track called "Invicto" making this song a potential hymn for the successfull football team. The closing "Alma" started with the simple guitar strumming but then it turned into the emotional and sublime chant orchestrated with cello and synths that fits perfectly for its role. The other tracks are more habitual to the band's template but in comparison with the previous releases from the first song to the last here baden bah! sounds more focused, more concentrated, more intense and apparently more concerned. 

The best tracks: Iguazu, Universo, Futuro

baden bah! en la red

Las Resenas Casuales. Sin Rumbo "LUZ"

Sin Rumbo "LUZ" (p)2014 Sin Rumbo

The band on the verge of 'making it', Madrid-based Sin Rumbo have changed the direction before releasing their most ambitious project yet.

Honestly speaking, I was pretty sure that they would embrase considerable success with their previous album "Forma Parte de Espectaculo". Though [probably] not so successful in terms of box office, this disc helped much to consolidate the band's fan base, and before making the further steps ahead the band decided to take some time to re-group forces, to start and successfully finalize the crowdfunding campaign, and then to finally present to us "LUZ" (as usual this album was released independently). By the way, this year marks the band's 10th anniversary, and it seems like the last two years have changed the Sin Rumbo's face more than the previous eight years. Now the band wears on the sleeves the 'electronica-cross-guitars contemporary indie' template whose reflections we may see/listen in the bands like Polock, or, for instance, Sin Rumbo's close friends The Noises (not to mention the best-known bands in this sub-genre). For not to get caught within the cliche's boundaries the guys have used one [not so] simple but effective method: the diversity.

The opening track "Frecuencias" welcomes you with Delorean-like sounds and catchy chorus, while the stomping "Horizonte" has stylistically almost nothing in common with its predecessor. The next song "1789" is a perfect piece of fast noise-pop - at this point I felt myself like I was discovering the world inside the moone along with the [arguably] best album Apples (In Stereo) ever produced. And with "Volveremos A Casa" and "Cambiar El Final" (the latter could remind you of Hurts) this feeling even increased. The things calm down a bit in the second half of the album that consists of the songs which are more in line with the bands previous works. But as a whole "LUZ" could star as a perfect guide to how to change the ways and methods without losing your face.

The best tracks: Cambiar El Final, Volveremos A Casa, Inercia, 1789

Sin Rumbo Facebook

Sin Rumbo Sitio Oficial

Las Resenas Casuales. Las Ruinas "Toni Bravo"

Las Ruinas "Toni Bravo" (p)2014 El Genio Equivocado

It came as a surprise for me as I had never heard of Las Ruinas previously.
I have no idea whether Las Ruinas are eager to be the Spanish Guided By Voices. But something (maybe their 5 or 6 releases in the last 3 years) makes me feel that way. It's clear that the band's modus operandi is not so far from Dayton, Ohio finest: the short noisy tracks with both legs in post-punk and/or college rock, relatively simple textures and quirky but undeniably catchy hooks - but fortunately, this amazing band is not a bunch of copycats at all, and the music they produce has not so much in common with Robert Pollard's main vehicle. The songs of Las Ruinas are colder, more 'robotic', more calculated and simultaneously are tighter in terms of instrumentation and wider in terms of space used. These tracks may seem simple enough but the truth is they are so perfectly constructed that could work even without vocals ("Ultimo Tren" as a proof).
The album of the week for me.

The best tracks: Automatas, Paseo Maritimo, La Epica De La Pobreza

The buy the digital copy of "Toni Bravo" please click here.

Living through the jet lag, getting back from the vacation

Taking in mind my passion to Canarian rock, visiting Tenerife for the fourth time I shouldn't been spending time there only for burning my skin in the sun and then soaking it into the cold salty waters of the Atlantic ocean. If our previous Canarian trip was marked by a brief (not so brief though) encounter with Pumuky guitarist and co-founding member Noe Ramirez then this time not only we spent a night with Noe and GAF leader Mladen Kurajica but also we attended the Tenerifean stop of the ongoing pan-Canarian concert tour Conexion Canarias in the good company of GAF's trumpet player Alejandro Padron. Also, we've attended the El Hombre Bala bar, the headquarters of the prominent Tenerife-based indie label of the same name. I'm not saying we were diving deep into Canarian rock scene - but I consider it relatively deep for the persons from so far away.

I'm not going to speak about the details of our supper with Noe & Mladen cos it was absolutely private event. So let's start from El Hombre Bala (The Bullet Man).

The day before we came there, there was the presentation of the first effort of Trinidad (the lone girl Zaynab Esther is hiding behind this moniker) - the "Pop Terror" EP. To attend this event was our initial intention but Alejandro proposed us to go to Banda Aparte bar for the Conexion Canarias-organized concerts the next day. Because to drive the island through at night three days in a row wasn't the easiest thing to do for us we decided to abandon Trinidad's presentation in favor of Conexion Canarias. But before walking to Banda Aparte we came to El Hombre Bala where I took a couple of beers and made a purchase of Trinidad's effort (along with the new full lenghts of Brutralizzed Kids and Velcro). Also we received two guitar pickups as the memorabilia.

Then we paved our way to Banda Aparte but it seemed like there was a shift of timeline because at 10 p.m. no one was going to make some noise like it was scheduled. The music program started an hour later with the acoustic set of Mento. Usually the band is not acoustic but only three members out of five were present there. Their songs sounded like they were intended to sound much louder, the guys were able to catch the listeners' attention so now I'm waiting for more music from them.
The next band to play was Navy Blue Socks. This band reminded me of Versos Rotos whom we have seen earlier this year on Sonorama. With catchy songs and the distinct contemporary indie rock sound they have the potential to be well-known amongst young people.
Then we left the bar cos it was already too late for us, and my wife Tanya felt bad.

Navy Blue Socks

Regarding Trinidad.

Now I worry that we didn't visit her show because the girl really has 'it'. The "Pop Terror" EP contains only 5 songs but these songs are speaking much. The tiny fragile acoustic melodies create the atmosphere which befriends you with "Pop Terror" with the greatest of ease.  Honestly speaking, the comparisons with Russian Red are too obvious to be 100% true so we need to find the better reference point. Let's look: lo-fi sound cross honest emotions cross sence of humour... oh wait... Liz Phair?

The best ever lines in credits are saying: "This disc is dedicated to all my neighbours. For bearing the guitar noise, impossible chords and the discs of Pantera and Mariah Carey. Except the neighbour from behind. Not for you. Put yourself the chainsow in the ass"

Gaf y la Estrella de la Muerte - Balayo Sunrise

Upon my return from the sweet Canarian vacation I'd like to put here this composition as a bridge to what's coming next.

#SonoramaRibera2014. Los recuerdos nuevos

Las Resenas Casuales. Joe La Reina "Bailamos Por Miedo"

Joe La Reina "Bailamos Por Miedo" (p)2014 Subterfuge

'Rusia es nuestra peste/Rusia es el fin'
This is a folk rock album, a certain kind of a folk rock album. In the world of folk rock albums this would be a bastard. The fractured, the sick, the hysterical, the ironic, the morbid, the balladesque. The Donostian quintet have created an album that is as unique as powerful and as strange as true.
Many things may look strange here, but everything is under control. Lucas Malcorra, the singer of the band wails, groans and bemoans like a Middle Age haunted minstrel (or like Robert Pollard under the influence) but never falls into pure 'stream of consciousness'. The somber athmosphere of "Bailamos Por Miedo" befriends it with the works of McEnroe, while the free-minded handling with the song structures puts it in the same category as Izal's more convoluted creatures (with Joe La Reina being much more somber and enigmatic). But what is the most definitive thing about this album - and here I must repeat the line that I wrote right after their performance in Sonorama - Lucas does not sing a song to you, he tells you a tale instead.

From the 'plague Russia' point of view I must admit that it's one of the best releases of the year, and definitely one of the most memorable.

The best tracks: Rusia, Huracan 2000, En Una Casa Junto Al Mar, Oh La Mía Pena


Joe La Reina in Subterfuge