Juggernautz – self-titled album

Description

The self-titled, sole album by the American techno project Juggernautz was released on Metro One Recordings in 2002. The album was recorded at The Dining Room, with vocals recorded at Closet. Mixed by Eli Thomson at The New Place, then at the Sonikwire. Written and produced by Jyro Xhan of Mortal and Fold Zandura fame.

If you’re a lover of breakbeat/dance-orientated rock and, having bought the albums by thebandwithnoname and Psalmistry and are now wondering what next to purchase, may I point you to this nifty item produced by Jyro Xhan. Jyro was in many ways a pioneer in linking the ricocheting rhythms and turbulent grooves of the dancefloor to full throttle rock guitars and lyrics which express anger as well as joy. Not everything on this set works; Jyro’s vocals are a little soft and lacking in grit for my taste while the raps aren’t the best you’ve ever heard. But when it all comes together, like on the opener «The Reach» or the haunting «UR», you’ll have to admit that our American cousins CAN do the rock dance thing. Nice CD sleeve design too. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, November 2002]

To call the publicity sheets accompanying this review copy misleading would be an understatement at best. “Think Prodigy. Think the Chemical Brothers. That’s the neighborhood,” it recklessly suggests. Jyro Xhan’s new project sounds less like the United Kingdom’s leading purveyors of dark electro-pop than it does to bands more familiar to the Christian bookshop browser’s ear. Think The Echoing Green and Massivivid on a trip to their local planetarium or meteorological center, writing songs awash with references to the sun, stars, sky, ultra silver light, silver rain, hurricanes, oceans, waterfalls, pulsars and planets. The latter comparison is particularly apt from the outset. «The Reach» sounds uncannily like an unreleased song from Massivivid’s Brightblur, all programmed beats and semi-distorted (and somewhat bland) power chords. Intriguing lyrics, reasonable structure, average melody, but totally forgettable. It all sounds so familiar. The second installment, ! «UR», continues the Massivivid comparison, but has its flabby underbelly injected with a syringe of Fold Zandura‘s melodic brightness. Not that this makes a dull song a remarkable one, it just hints at Juggernautz’s roots. «You are the Light» has a similar melodic moment, but is essentially Fold Zandura without the polished hooks.

It all sounds so safe. It is not without irony then, that two of the best tracks on the album are, at least on paper, the safest. «Mandarin Sky», a simple psalm-like worship song (confusingly dedicated to Gene Eugene), relinquishes the big mechanised drum sounds and flat guitars for a delicately layered, spacey female vocal and very sparse electronic backing. The melody is simple but haunting, the perfect vehicle for the lyric “Mandarin sky has filled my eyes/ Rivers of jade/ I am complete beneath your shade.” The next track, «Pacificoaster» has a similarly serene feel, but adopts a bigger beat and a heavily processed vocal. Less a song than a soundtrack, but good nonetheless.

The only genuinely great song that employs a heavier beat and guitars is «Don’t Be Afraid», which marries the more sinister overtones of older Mortal material with the simple and positive admonishment, “Don’t be afraid or troubled/ Don’t fear the past or future/ Don’t be afraid or troubled/ God holds today and tomorrow.” It is also the only song to successfully use a semi-spoken/sub-rapped vocal in the verse (Project 86 would call it a rhythmic vocal delivery, NOT rap). «Fury» and «Believing» both make similar attempts, the former being unremarkable and the latter horrible, easily the worst song on the album. From the cheesetastic opening lines “come together people yeah people come together,” «Believing» is a downward slide, Jyro Xhan meets the World Wide Message Tribe at their most banal. It also takes the prize for most likely to become a youth group mantra, with its closing lines, “One Man for every season/ One truth for every reason/ One love that’s worth receiving/ One God who’s worth believing in.”

Juggernautz is competent without being remarkable. Fans of Massivivid and The Echoing Green may well find something here digestible, but you can’t help suspect that Jyro Xhan’s fans will miss the dark, dense jungle of Mortal and the sweet tunefulness of Fold Zandura. [Shelby Foster, The Phantom Tollbooth, 4/29/2002]

CD tracklist:

00. You Are The Light – 0:53
01. Reach – 3:28
02. UR – 3:48
03. Everyday – 4:00
04. Fury – 3:36
05. Mandarin Sky (feat. Carla Joy) [ J-nautz vs. Gem ] – 3:47
06. Pacificoaster [ J-nautz vs. Phinnaeus ] – 4:03
07. Everlasting – 3:56
08. Don’t Be Afraid – 3:37
09. Believing – 3:24
10. You Are The Light [ J-nautz vs. Folzan ] – 5:16

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Metro One Recordings. (Track 0 is an unlisted pre-gap track, consisting of ambient sounds from “You Are the Light”.)

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