Joliette - Principia [2013]

Post-hardcore is not lacking at all in Mexico, but a few bands rise to the surface amongst the sea of breakdowns, and one of those is Joliette. They hail from the city of Puebla, which to me is especially annoying because I lived in Puebla for 5 months and didn't even hear of them until I left. Fortunately they seem to have some connections with the various scenes in the US so maybe they'll get the chance to tour the west coast and I'll finally see them play. It's always exciting to see bands from different countries (with different languages) crossing borders (they're currently on tour in Mexico with Chicago band Ittō!).

Joliette is a band that I'm really into but secretly don't really want to be. I think it might just have to do with their genre, given it's popularity and the inundation of similar sounding bands that really need to stop using the same hooks and oversimplified riffs in a cookie-cutter structure. Joliette, however, is different. Their experience as musicians and talent is apparent in every moment and it's exciting to watch them play (I've never seen them live, but they have some cool videos they did with Audiotree the last time they were in the US, see below).

Genre: Post-hardcore, Post-everything

Joliette - Principia [2013]

1. Todos Temen

2. Todos Odian

3. Quiral

4. Martina, Merlina y Dale con Martín

5. Say Hola!

6. Czirros

7. Qúmulos

8. California Yisus

9. Juan Matón

10. Norte y Bravo

11. Die Stunde des Käses

Zat/Avitación 101 Split [2011]

Bazinga, I'm back in the U.S. and for real this time I'm gonna be posting consistently again. This one's a twofer I guess, it's a split between two radical Latin American screamo bands that's sure to rock yer socks off.

Avitación 101 is from Uruguay (I assume Montevideo but I haven't found anything that actually says) and define themselves on their facebook as neoscreamocrust, which is definitely accurate as heck. Bass heavy, driving and riffy is how I'd describe it. The first riff of every song is always so damn catchy. The vocals stand out quite a bit, they seem to have a nice mix of sass, screamo and hardcore influence. It's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't go see this band when they played in Buenos Aires while I was there.

Genres: Screamo, Crust, Hardcore

Zat is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and plays a sort of punk/screamo. The guitars are a bit angular and can even get reminiscent of Fugazi in their discordance and the way they play off each other. For the most part they walk with a sort of dark, catchy melody that can be a little off-putting or make you ask where they were going with it, and it's like chunky and doesn't necesarily make sense and it comes off pretty well actually. Like, pretty stripped down, but not 3 chord punk but somewhat reminscent of it.

Genres: Punk, Screamo, Post-hardcore

Zat/Avitación 101 Split [2011]

Zat

1. Levanta tus palmas y sacude tus balas

2. Sabor a Troya

3. Bosques

4. Arma calibrada

5. Charlas, descontentos, universos

6. Tribunales

7. Camino al juzgado

8. Estallido

Avitación 101

9. Intro 

10. Iglesias

11. Oxido

12. Pesadilla

13. Tengo miedo

14. Trazada

http://institucionzat.wordpress.com/

https://loszats.bandcamp.com/
https://myspace.com/havitacion101

Vocero - Vocero [2001]

I've been quiet for a while, I'm sorry ya'll. Posts are gonna continue to be spotty until I get back to the states in a couple weeks and things are less chaotic. To make it up to you though, today I'm featuring one of the most, if not the most radical emo band from South America - Vocero.

They only ever released one album, a short 15 minutes of innovative emo that takes influence from other bands of the era like Braid and Falling Forward. It has a danceability and an unpredictability that I would also liken to Fugazi in some senses. To me, the most exciting aspect of the band is the vocals. The main vocals at times are like raw punk but slightly refined and placed in an emo context, and at other times are a more predictable raw melody that you find in emo. Meanwhile the backing vocals are generally more melodical but less predictable and kinda surreal in timbre.

Please enjoy the crap out of this band, it's pretty hard to find any information on them but theres a few things posted on a facebook page that was created for them and a review translated into spanish from a Bulgarian blog that actually has a lot of sweet information on other Argentine bands as well (that I have posted and not posted about).

Genres: Emo, Post-hardcore, Punk

Vocero - Vocero [2001]

1) Track 1

2) Track 2

3) Track 3

4) Track 4

5) Track 5

6) Track 6

7) Track 7

Fun fact: One of the members plays Tango on the accordion

Le-Mat - Diálogos de Sol y Luna [2013]

Le-Mat is a crushing hardcore punk/screamo band from Monterrey, Mexico. It's moments of fast and discordant hardcore that nearly reach the realm of powerviolence or emoviolence are really jarring, displaying an aggressive strength that reveals signs of desperation. You can pretty much feel the record weeping in loneliness amongst a world of a disparate outlook. It's is a really serious record. The number of quotations from famous authors and dramatic sound bytes may be a deterrent to those interested in just hearing the music. That said, it's really tastefully constructed and the topics covered are socio-politically relevant and a coherent philosophical message is on display.

Their mixture of hardcore and screamo is unique and is definitely appealing to followers of both genres. It's pissed off, hopeful, unstoppable, pensive, engaged and heartbreaking. Keep an eye on this band, they're sure to tour the US sometime soon (they just finished an impressive South American tour).

Aquí tienen una entrevista muy buena de la revista Vice que proporciona una mejor idea del impacto social que puede hacer la banda (el entrevistador aparentemente lloró cuando los vio en vivo):
Un Salto al Vacío Con Le-Mat

Y aquí otra entrevista en Santiago de Chile durante su gira latinoamericana:

Genres: Hardcore Punk, Screamo

Le-Mat - Diálogos de Sol y Luna [2013]

1. Prefacio

2. La Roca Hace Cantar al Río

3. Montegrey

4. Llanto de las Abejas

5. Postales desde Roma

6. Elegía

7. 5-7-5

8. Le-Mat

9. Reminiscencias

10. (a)tormenta

Luxemburgo - MDXCII [2011]

Luxemburgo is from Santiago, Chile and plays some really beautiful heartfelt emo/screamo. If there's anywhere in Latin America you should be looking for really good screamo, it's Chile. There's a solid history of good stuff especially if you're interested in European/U.S. style screamo (with of course a certain Chilean feel). Luxemburgo uses a lot of strong clean tones and rich overdrives and it's mixed well, overall its just pretty to listen to. There are some nicely anxious jam sections so if you're into longer form this is definitely for you. I really don't know how to talk about this band other than that it's fresh, and you should check it out. This album is their first from 2011, and they have an EP that came out the same year and another LP that came out in 2013.

Genres: Emo, Screamo, Post-hardcore, Punk

Luxemburgo - MDXCII [2011]

1. 2060

2. 1968

3. 0 a.c.

4. 1907

5. 1948-1984