Midnight Juggernauts

Siberia Records, 2007


REVIEW BY: Peter Vissers


Every once in a while, an artist stands out from the crowd by doing something completely new. I’m not suggesting that Australian Midnight Juggernauts started a revolution like Pink Floyd, Queen, Genesis, and countless others did. They did do something special, though. By blending an incredible amount of different styles, they created a unique sound that truly distinguishes them from other bands in the indie/electronica department. The best way to describe their sound is a blend of ‘70s David Bowie, discofunk, progressive indie, and a hint of Cut Copy.  In two words: bloody catchy!

The second track of the album (after the intro, which just sets the mood for the rest of the album but isn’t very interesting) is “Ending Of An Era.” It’s a rather funky song with a great refrain featuring high-pitched voices. The refrain reminds me a bit of the French duo Justice, while the rest of the song sounds more like Cut Copy. The next song is “Into The Galaxy,” which was the first single to be released. It’s a great tune, funky and weird on purpose. The refrain features the fancy falsetto vocals again. Midnight Juggernauts certainly have their own particular style, but I really start to think they’ve been listening to David Bowie’s my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Ziggy Stardust a lot. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just obvious who inspired them.

The fourth track is “Shadows,” another great song. The punchy bass line and tight drums make it perhaps the most funky song on the album. “Worlds Converged” is a short track to fill up some space, while “Dystopia” is more of a ballad. The lyrics are again about space travel and satellites. I keep hearing tiny bits of David Bowie. It’s a very harmonious and pretty song. “Road To Recovery” is a noisy synth-based song with a smashing bass line. The shredding synthesizer gets pretty annoying after a while, though. “Twenty Thousand Leagues” starts off with synthesizers again, and sounds like that revoltingly ugly ‘80s synth-pop song “It’s My Life” by Talk Talk. Although “Nine Lives” features some elements we haven’t heard on Dystopia before, it’s not something completely different; it sounds pretty much like what we’ve heard on the first part of the album. It’s a very catchy and appealing song, though! “So Many Frequencies” is an awesome tune. The bizarre vocals make the song distinguish itself from the rest. The last track, “Aurora,” is another ballad. It’s not a great song, but it isn’t bad either. It does contain an exceptional amount of cosmic sounds to set the mood.

Dystopia is commercial yet experimental and very unique. However, the band should have spent a bit more time polishing it and removing the tracks that don’t deserve a spot on this incredibly interesting indie/electronica album.

Rating: B

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