Review Summary: A short outburst of violence..
Post-everything post-hardcore group Joliette are nothing if not risk takers. And the funny thing is they probably don’t even know it themselves. With their fantastic debut,
Principia, the group resisted the cultural pressures from their northern neighbors in the United States as to how post-hardcore should be played and crafted one of the most impressive debuts in years.
Principia perfectly blended post-rock elements into a hardcore record, creating an emotive blend of artistry and rawness. With
Atáxico, Joliette takes another risk, eschewing all that pesky post-rock influence and going 100% raw. At a short 27 minutes, the group has no time for stirring up emotions but plenty of time to take the steel wool to our ears. The opener “Verdadero Por Accidente” shows the listener the new, rawer production which punctuates the mood present in
Atáxico. The interesting guitar tone Joliette is known for shines but the drumming in particular benefits from the new production, allowing for perfect clarity of every note that is the backbone of the intensely wild atmosphere Joliette pulled off here.
“Vibraparrot” is the perfect amalgamation of what
Atáxico is. Fast, chunky riffs trade off with Obregón’s wails creating a violent and relentless energy. This energy is enhanced by the unpredictability of the music. Different time signatures are routinely used and abused to fantastic effect and
Atáxico never falls into the trap of being loud for the sake of loudness.
Atáxico does have its pitfalls though which all revolve around it’s short runtime. At only 27 minutes, with the final song clocking in at over 10 minutes, the experience flies by all too quickly. Despite this, Joliette’s inclusion of “Las Arepas De Mi Padre”, a slow burner, seems questionable. All of the momentum in the record comes to a screeching halt and while the song itself is quite good standing alone, within the context of the intensity that is every other song on
Atáxico the song would have been better suited on a longer album.
Despite the frustrations with the length,
Atáxico is Joliette a their most primal, the music is performed masterfully and the energy contained within is infectious despite its unpredictable and dark nature. Joliette have shown again that despite the pressures around them, they are going to make the music they want. The decision to go harder than their extremely well-received debut
Principia shows just what kind of people we are dealing with. The excellence of the music both theoretically and in execution shows just what kind of musicians we are dealing with.
