•
Rating: My latest musical discovery comes from the beautiful Australia, the homeland of Sam Sparro and where the Bee Gees made their first steps; it's three guys originally from Melbourne, and their music can be defined as a sci-fi pop entirely centered on electronics, not unlike what another recent suggestion of mine, the American band Starfucker, offers, but a little less psychedelic and slightly more inclined to the dancefloor. Captivating and charming atmospheres, sometimes rarefied, at other times more rhythmic, and at other moments hypnotic, with extensive use of filtered voices interspersed with some falsetto choruses at the right points and, above all, a very evident and defined personality, magnetic and never dull, a rare commodity in a pop/alternative pop scene often tired, shriveled and devoid of verve.
Formed in 2004, the Midnight Juggernauts officially debut with this album, "Dystopia" (2007), which presents itself excellently right from the splendid cover, perfect for representing the musical offering of the trio: sounds and colors that dance freely, fluid and charming melodies but inevitably alien to the ears of a distracted radio listener. This work owes much to the great masters of the '70s groove, Giorgio Moroder being the foremost, and the song titles betray the group's fascination with sci-fi themes and imagery, elements that make "Dystopia" something both retro and futuristic at the same time. Highlights like the cadenced and solemn mantra of "Ending Of An Era", the epic and futuristic disco of "Into The Galaxy" and the splendid techno incursion of "Tombstone" ensure the album makes a convincing and appreciable impact right from the first listens. The emotional peak is reached with the title track "Dystopia", the isolated appearance of the acoustic guitar in the electronic microcosm of the album, which "borrows" the melody from "Mary" by the Scissor Sisters but with the vocal approach and that feeling of cathartic despair and melancholy of "The Man Who Sold The World" by David Bowie. Four songs that are more than enough to form a solid core, a supporting structure that holds an album completed by episodes a bit less changing, with a more subtle and nuanced charm, like "Road To Recovery", a groove vaguely reminiscent of "Bliss" by Muse, but with a more articulated structure, without any rock pretension and without Matthew Bellamy's hypertrophic and, in the long run, tiring voice, thus giving more prominence to the sounds, the bass, and the keyboards, "Shadows", in which Ian Gillan's high note in "Child In Time" seems crystallized, getting lost in a sinuous celestial vault of electronics and the primordial beat of the bass, the brief "Worlds Converged", balanced between the early Queen choruses and a dark aura reminiscent of Depeche Mode, an influence also present in "Twenty Thousand Leagues". The album is completed by "Nine Lives" which confirms the characteristic and commendable choice to sacrifice the vocals to the role of a complementary and secondary element in favor of sounds, the general atmosphere of the piece and "So Many Frequencies", traversed by a noticeably perceivable new-wave unrest, steering the listener to the epilogue, the ecstatic idyll of "Aurora", one of those rarefied and languid slows that, if repeated multiple times during an album, end up making it an unlistenable bore, but in a single quantity, placed right at the end of the "Dystopia" journey, it fulfills its function impeccably, relaxes, stretches, discharges emotions to the ground, can make one dream.
"Dystopia" from 2007, the debut work of the Midnight Juggernauts, can therefore rightfully be included among the albums of my very personal series "another pop is possible"; general impressions on these guys: well, first of all, it must be said, and you will surely have understood by reading the review, that they are great citationists, like the Scissor Sisters, Muse or Sam Sparro, and this is not synonymous with copycats, instead, it's a compliment. Knowing how to rework in a personal way what others have previously done is always a talent, never a limitation if you have the ability to move and entertain; the reason why, ultimately, pop music is needed. "Dystopia" is a versatile record, great for dancing but also for reflecting, closing your eyes, and dreaming. If man has only reached the Moon and then stopped, music has managed to conquer the universe and its landscapes, and "Dystopia" is clear proof of that. It would really be nice if artists like the Midnight Juggernauts and the Starfucker enjoyed greater visibility and consideration, maybe even supplanting the Muse, who have already written their history and are now dead and buried and have nothing more to give. Music is like energy, it is not created nor destroyed, it simply changes, and more attention should be paid to new sources, instead of continuing to drill exhausted deposits.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Ending of an Era (04:51)
The city, the hustle
The workers, the muscle
The martyrs, the monkeys
The data, the junkies
The wounded, the tortured
The fallen, the slaughtered
The highways, the wagons
The dungeons, the dragons
The ocean, the salmon
The lifeblood, the famine
The cattle, the karma
The bible, the drama
The princes, the paupers
The daughters, their stalkers
The statement, the warning
The sirens, we set them off
[Chorus] x4
Sirens
Sound off the sirens
Hell reigns above
The huffing, the puffing
The money for nothing
The winnings, the loses
The burning of the crosses
The passion, the hunger
The lightning, the thunder
The murder, the mirror
The ending of an era
The fortune, the market
The children, the target
The lovers, the fighters
The writers that guide us
The future, the preachers
The teachers that reach us
The statement, the warning
The sirens, we set them off
[Chorus] x8
Sirens
Sound off the sirens
Hell reigns above
Sirens....x4
03 Into the Galaxy (04:54)
Floating to the edge of the world
Floating to the edge of the sea
Floating off the edge of the ocean
Out into the galaxy (x2)
An apparition
Of twilight visions
A final mission
Of superstition
Reactivated
Now automated
Appropriated
Investigated
Global techtonics
Psycho robotic
Plasma bionic
Bred supersonic
A new translation
For integration
Your invitation
G.L.O.R.I.A.
Floating to the edge of the world
Floating to the edge of the sea
Floating off the edge of the ocean
Out into the galaxy (x2)
Hyper creation
Our reinvention
Love and affection
Gaining attention
United nations
Inter relations
A declaration
Of hypertension
Emerging summits
Pre-emptive plummet
We drop atomic
To shooting comets
The controversial
Ultra commercial
Now universal
G.L.O.R.I.A.
Floating to the edge of the world
Floating to the edge of the sea
Floating off the edge of the ocean
Out into the galaxy (x2)
(x2)
Out into the galaxy (x16)
04 Shadows (04:17)
They�ll be hiding in the shadows They�ll be hiding in the dark of the night They�ll be hiding �til tomorrow They�ll be hiding �til the timing is right It�s an answer for the future It�s a question that we left in the past It�s a message for the masses It�s a problem but it ain�t gonna last Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow today (x2) It�s a passing of a legend It�s a passing of an age of pretend It�s a story that we beckon It�s a story and it ain�t gonna end Until now Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow today (x2)
07 Road to Recovery (06:21)
Stars in the sky they will guide you back home
Float as the night forms a path of its own
Follow the lights they will guide you back home
[Chorus]x3
Path to discovery
Road to recovery
Laugh as we run from the world we once knew
Songs we once sung they will come back to you
Aim for the sun as it comes into view
[Chorus]x5
Path to discovery
Road to recovery
10 Tombstone (04:04)
Is it a war zone,
Is it a freak show,
Is it a terradome,
Is it a radio,
Is it a firewall,
Is it a death toll,
Is it an atom bomb,
Is it a tombstone,
(repeat 2x)
Is it a war zone,
Is it a freak show,
Is it a terradome,
Is it a radio,
Is it a firewall,
Is it a death toll,
Is it an atom bomb,
Is it a tombstone,
(repeat 2x)
Is it a war zone,
Is it a freak show,
Is it a terradome,
Is it a radio,
Is it a firewall,
Is it a death toll,
Is it an atom bomb,
Is it a tombstone,
(repeat 4x)
DL_Unlimited
Loading comments slowly
