Reviews

Youthanasia

Bosque Rojo Bosque Rojo cassette

BOSQUE ROJO is a band from Montreal that sings in Spanish. They released this cassette with the great label A World Divided, specialized in giving focus to bands from the Mediterranean (Southern Europe, North Africa, and Middle East). This is a band with a very classic Spanish sound: sharp political lyrics, a voice that spits fury and truths, a thunderous rhythm section, and guitar that creates quite addictive walls of noise, often with touches of dark post-punk. It’s forceful. It’s catchy. You can feel the knack for personal hits in all four songs, but I highlight “Solostalgia” and “Muertos en Vida,” sublime punches to the face of conformity. The truth is that I already want them to record a full album.

Cromo En Otro Lugar EP

This Spanish three-piece puts out a strong effort here. Kinda poppy, kinda dark, hella catchy. Musically this has elements that bring to mind the MARKED MEN, the LILLINGTONS, and SCREECHING WEASEL while remaining original enough to keep the listener interested. Six songs in total, one of which sounds like SCREECHING WEASEL’s “Hey Suburbia” with the chords slightly switched and in a different key, and one entitled “P.I.D. (Paul is Dead)” which has the vocal pattern of the BEATLES’ “Help” during the verses, which now makes me wonder if that was intentional?

Hyökkäys Antigobierno EP

HYÖKKÄYS translates to “attack”. And attack they do! This is pure Suomi hardcore worship played by Basque punks. Little is known about this band, which keeps things interesting, and one can solely focus on the music…erm…noise they make. Antigobierno is made up of eleven tracks, two of them are covers of HHH and KAAOS, and this mixture pretty much sums up their sound. Raw, primitive, and to-the-point. Another great gem from the Spanish punk scene.