Midnight Juggernauts
Dystopia

THE REVIEW

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.