Juventud Juché "Miedo / En tu Casa" (Sonido Muchacho)

[€1.95 to Download //€5 for 7" Vinyl // https://sonidomuchacho.bandcamp.com/album/sm-024-miedo-en-tu-casa]

Two new songs, a mean three minutes each, from one of my favorite bunch of punk rockers out of Madrid, Spain.     Juventud Juche has been in steady rotation here for quite some time, proving the obvious notion that music transcends any sort of language barrier, and now Sonido Muchacho is releasing this single as a 7".   Just like when my dad was a kid.    Should you buy this?  I don't want to tell you what to do with your money, but absolutely you should.

I Saw Daylight // Deceits Split

[€5 for 7" // Edition of 500 (150 pink, 350 white) // €3 to Download // https://isawdaylight.bandcamp.com/album/split-deceits]

These are four songs- two from each band- of German hardcore.   I Saw Daylight reminds me of Grade at times while Deceits brings out some Silent Drive, but this is just the singing, the screaming, the melodies, the breakdowns-- it's just everything you want from a hardcore/metal band in 2015 because so many bands are claiming to be hard and sound like pop punk these days.   I Saw Daylight and Deceits are both the real deal.     If you're a fan of Bane, Thrice, As Cities Burn ("Son I Loved You At Your Darkest" era) and most of the other hardcore that has managed to stay with me since I first heard it.    Yeah, you're going to want to get this one.

Desperate Journalist "Desperate Journalist" (Fierce Panda / Minty Fresh)

[£12 // Edition of 250 // http://desperatejournalist.bandcamp.com/merch/desperate-journalist-12-album]

Falling somewhere between the 1980's and the present, Desperate Journalist combines a good number of sounds to craft one their own.   From Duran Duran, Blondie, Concrete Blonde and R.E.M. to The Cranberries, The Box Tiger, Heart, Thursday and The Cure these songs are somewhere between punk and not because they can be fast paced at times while other times not as much.

It's a musical complexity as there are guitar notes galore and precision drumming and bass lines combined to make something that you might not otherwise think possible.   The songs have this appeal to them where the choruses tend to have hooks that get stuck in your head so in that way I'd also say they're a little pop but I can get metal riffs stuck in my head just as easily so don't quote me on the pop part.

I became a fan of Desperate Journalist listening to this album and hearing the various influence of other artists that I like, and even those which I don't like I can think of this as being a better version of them.    I only truly began to appreciate this though when I realized that for all of its influences I can name this still just stands tallest on its own merits.

CVBox "What You Hear Is What You Get" (Lunatic Records)

[€11 for Record // Edition of 300 // €3 for Download // https://lunaticrecords.bandcamp.com/album/what-you-hear-is-what-you-get-lun03]

Moderately paced electronic numbers that tow the line between electronica and 8bit music.   Somewhat of The Prodigy or something else I am unfamiliar with and somewhat of the Beastie Boys these instrumental songs will either have you in a trance or make your body dance.

The first of these four songs is actually exclusive to the record release as well, so if you want to hear that one you're going to have to buy the record because it will not come as a download for you.     After listening to this enough times and without the first track I can tell you that having "Hitchhike the Plain" kick things off does seem to help the overall flow of this.

While I realize that a U.S. dollar is not worth as much as a pound you have to think of this download as being a pound per song (which hence is more than a dollar per song, but still) so in that sense it does kind of work out for you but I'd still say you need that first movement for the complete experience and as any DJ in any club can tell you, yes, this will sound most excellent spinning on vinyl.

Missiles of October "Don't Panic (2014)"

[Name Your Price Download // http://missilesofoctober.bandcamp.com/album/dont-panic-2014]

This is available as a CD or LP as well as a digital download but whatever medium you choose to listen to it on you must play these songs LOUD.    This is a cross between Motorhead, Rise Against and We Were Promised Jet Packs.    It's that mix of older AFI with Mudhoney as it is heavily distorted and very much on the verge of metal.

I'm not sure if I'd consider it a pure sense of metal, though it does tend to lean that way, but there are those elements as well of hardcore.   As much as this is A Perfect Murder it can be Sick Of It All or Suicidal Tendencies.  

Perhaps one of my biggest problems with this genre of music that combines metal and hardcore is that too many bands in it end up sounding the same and they all just sort of blend together.     The good bands- the best ones in this genre- always find a way to stand out.   Missiles of October has found that way to stand out and if I had to pinpoint what it is exactly that makes them stand out to me it's just that this music is so raw.

Lunivers "Happy Route"

[http://lunivers.bandcamp.com/]

In March of 2013 these four songs were released as a record, compact disc and digitally outside of the United States but on February 16th (which happens to be my sister's birthday) these songs will be released worldwide on record as an edition of 500.    So if you are into collecting records, then be on the look out for this one to come a bit closer to you than the previous release of it.

It's kind of funny though because these four songs have been sitting on Bandcamp for almost two years now and they have a record to go with them so it's not just some sort of free download hidden in the sea of digital reviews I might encounter, so why has it taken me this long to find Lunivers?     If this wasn't going to be released worldwide I doubt I'd ever hear of Lunivers (Okay, one day I inevitably would) and so I am happy it is getting that because I got to hear it.

These four songs are electro techno synth powered bliss that channel Ladytron and Polly Scattergood.   Lyrics like "the sun is made out of kisses" recall Polly Scattergood and this is just overall pleasant and melodic.    There are beats and laser screeches in the songs, but it can also be a little bit of Kimbra.      With audio clips in French, spliced up and served fresh, there are also greater moments when the singing can remind me of Corrine Bailey Rae.

The best way to undoubtedly describe this is an electronic madness and I love it.    As I jot down notes about these songs all I can think when reading them back is that this seems like it might be too in your face, too obnoxious.    The fact of the matter is though that despite the fact that this can be described with a certain bit of madness there is also a calm reserve to it and I really enjoy that mix.    Don't get me wrong, this is high energy but it is the perfect amount of it.

Jonáš Gruska "CAA#9" (Cyland)

[[$20 // 7.5" Polycarbonate lathe cut // https://cyland.bandcamp.com/album/caa-9]]

Right away I can tell you that since this is twenty dollars for a lathe cut it's getting the digital treatment because Russia is a long way for a record to travel.

These are three songs that have a lot of beeps and could be made using any sort of electronic device that also can adjust frequencies to various levels.   In a lot of ways it has that feel of R2D2 to it and as such it makes me feel as if R2D2 is communicating with some other droids so naturally I enjoy it.

This is my second time listening to and reviewing something by Jonáš Gruska and as such I feel the need to point out that even with that sweet, sweet guitar hum drone there is just something different about this collection of three songs.   I recall the other four songs as having more individual qualities where these flow together almost as one.

It's not bad that they do that though because it just gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment after listening to this all the way through.   Additionally, you wouldn't just listen to any of these tracks by itself either but more likely the entire piece and finding a way for the listener to listen to it all is quite the achievement.