Last of the Juanitas - Hawaii
(Flapping Jet)
When was the last time a rock band made you scream out "woo"?
You know, when the music rocks you so hard, that it causes you
to suddenly, involuntarily yell "woo", the universal acknowledgement
of the ultimate appreciation of hard rock music. Before listening
to the Last of the Juanitas' new album, it had been quite a while
since rock music made me "woo". I don't know when the last time
was; I just know it was much too long ago. When listening to
Hawaii, though, that rock and roll feeling that had been dormant
inside me for so long suddenly feels alive. Hawaii produces a
steady stream of "woo"s. It is a full-fledged "woo"-inducer.
Perhaps that is enough to say in a review like this, but for those
not convinced, I will continue. Last of the Juanitas is a
three-piece from Portland (née San Diego) that have taken
math-metal and infused true, honest-to-goodness punk rock energy
inside it, creating a powerful, innovative hard rock machine.
They do it all with a presence that makes them seem like the
band next door, that is if you lived in heaven or hell or whichever place
only great bands end up.
Being originally from San Diego, it's too hard to resist calling
them a punker version of Drive Like Jehu, and Jehu's Rick Fork
did play with the band on their first album. Both bands definitely
know how to combine harsh musical elements into something oddly
appealing and both use a wide gamut of interesting noises. There are stronger
metal elements to the Juanitas' music, though, but like all current indie metal,
the roughest edges are smoothed over enough that those put off
by standard metal won't be left out of the devil's party. Being
part of this new wave of metalloids, the Juanitas know just who
to turn to for production help, Tim Green of The Fucking Champs.
It's important to note, though, that Green has not done a
Van Halen-esque gloss over of the Juanitas' sound like he does
with The Champs; Green keeps it raw and punk.
This is a kick ass album. It is the ass kicker's ass kicker. I haven't
felt this much power from a power trio since Shellac's
At Action Park or Unwound's The Future of What. Buy it, or Satan
will be that much crueler to you in the afterlife.
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