Gramaciones Grabofónicas / Sonido Muchacho, Spain
Rating: 79
by Glòria Guirao Soro
One of the late 2013 releases we were most excited about is Juventud Juché’s Quemadero, the first LP from the Madrid based trio. Although their first self-titled EP was released more than a year before, they have been playing live a lot and they have also recorded two songs for Discos Walden’s “Club del single,” a series of splits in which they paired with Juanita y Los Feos. Quemadero presents ten brand new energetic and short (only five of them go on for more than 2 minutes) pop punk songs ("Dispara," already featured in the EP and "Lacras" in the "Cenizas y Diamantes" Discos Walden compilation) that show a bit of nostalgia for Spanish eighties punk but remain original and fresh.
Starting with a drum roll accompanied by a repetitive bass line, diverse guitar riffs, and distortion, Juventud Juché tell us that there is no possible defense because we are all inside. What a statement to scream in our face right off the bat. That’s what this album is about: anger, complaint, crudity and uprising. “Quemadero” is raw and noisy, and all I want to do when listening to it is to run, scream, and maybe to shoot at someone. (Yes, it slightly violence-exalting). This album is immediate, not only because of the short songs, but because of its tone. Every song could be an anthem and could make anyone angry, but not in a bad way because there is some playfulness to it.
Javi, Luis, and Arturo claim a fresh start, a comeback from the ashes of what we have to burn first (with the match on the cover of the album?). "¡Levanta!", "Dispara," and "Zona Muerta" have a slight touch of marching music, some martial spirit that contrasts with the use of a cowbell that makes the songs a lot more danceable and reminds us of bands like Gang of Four and Wire. Even if we can trace their influences without trouble, Juventud Juché have a style of their own that relies a lot on the lead singer’s voice and the bass line, but also on rapidity and on this youthful and raging spirit.
Juventud Juché recalls Eskorbuto and other similar eighties punk Spanish bands, this album shows some revival of the No Wave that isn’t uncommon in this sector of the Spanish underground scene, which is, unlike it may seem from the outside, not very homogeneous. This kind of post-punk sound with very powerful bass lines, broken voice, and scratchy guitars is more characteristic of Madrid’s musical scene than from any other place in Spain, although there are bands like Pony Bravo, Betunizer, or Cuello that aren’t based in the capital city and that share a similar spirit.