Bananas They are a band of an unusual nature. Formed in 2018 under the heading of what we could consider a “supergroup”—if we stick to the definition provided by Wikipedia, “a musical group whose members already perform as successful soloists or as part of other bands known in the artistic environment, which tend to to be formed as an alternative project and not created to be permanent”—by members of Donostialdea combos such as Yaw, Cohen, Madeleine or Adrenalized, from the beginning they were conceived without the intention of defending their studio works on stage; something unusual in a genre like hardcore, which practically breathes the sweat of the pit and the adrenaline of live music.
These facets that they possess imprint their own character that allows them to be free to come and go, do and undo as they please, always dancing on that thin line that separates remaining active and letting it go. Like water you should not drink. Like streams that emerge from nowhere to disappear back into the earth, meters or kilometers later. With that freedom that characterizes them and with the eternal doubt about the status of the project – will they still be active? -, they are unexpectedly back after the outstanding ‘Garun ta Eztarri’ of 2021.
With the support of a poker of stamps – repeat the Galicians Home Recordingsthe Catalans Saltamargesand the Usopop of Iparralde as Basque representation—are establishing themselves in the record market by having this time BCore Disc also, of whom it could be stated, without sounding very Bilbao-like, that they are to Catalonia what Dischord is to Washington DC. References of the state hardcore punk scene and sounds since 1990, they have managed to provide their team with their own brand throughout their almost 35 years of history, to which the work of Santi Garcia (No More Lies) as producer and founder with his brother Víctor of the Ultramarinos Costa Brava studios; cradle of that sound that has been used by everyone from Daïtro to Viva Belgrado, including Standstill, Nueva Vulcano and Berri Txarrak, and which has also seen the birth of the album that concerns us.
Musically, the quintet continues to move around the same coordinates as its previous references, but as the river of the title that adorns the cover progresses, a musical advance can be noticed, similar to what happened in bands like La Dispute or Touché Amoré. , who coming from the screamo environment, have turned their careers towards meanderings on the shores of post-hardcore closer to the shores of rock. Those of Jeremy Bolm are, without a doubt, the greatest influence on Bananas since its creation (the same singer, Gartxot, confessed in an interview for this medium that the group was formed as a result of five friends getting together to emulate the ‘Stage Four’ of Bolm & Cía. that had impacted them so much at the time), and continuing with that analogy, we could say that if their debut sounded like ‘… To the Beat of a Dead Horse’ / ‘Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me’ , this ‘Errekak nola’ could be considered the equivalent of ‘Is Survived By’ / ‘Stage Four’. I don’t like to use the word “maturity” and even less to describe a music group, but it is perceived that they have given up a certain immediacy in a proposal that is more calm in this release, something like the studio version of a band live. This can be blamed on a production that, in the opinion of the writer, suffers from the endemic evil of recording studios that, with decades behind them and the same staff behind the controls, produce an impeccable product that ends up being homogeneous and, sometimes predictable. I do not want this to serve as a criticism of the Garcia Bros’ craft, it is only a personal appreciation, my collection is full of dozens and dozens of works from all their periods and they have all my respect and admiration; But I would have liked to see that spark shine live that I mentioned earlier in these seven songs that, if they had come out to bite, would have made up a superlative LP.
The album begins with the advance single and it is no wonder. ‘Itsuok ere denial’ is, possibly, the best song of the lot, starting with a spoken-word barely covered in guitar arpeggios to increase the intensity until a chorus that promises to be memorable in those concerts that come to present it. Once again, the group’s personality is exalted by lyrics that masterfully express the richness of the Basque language, in a similar way to how Nueva Vulcano surprises you mid-sentence with a play on words that you never saw coming. From titling the song in the first person with the use of a simple “o” (it would be translated as “the blind also cry”), to the sound of concatenating “aise” (easily) and “haize” (wind) or the phrase “maileguz asez gabeziak” (satisfying needs with loans), passing through the pun of “beharrizanak ez zuen izan behar” (the need should not be). Maiz maisu, betiereko Gartxot. The language, however, is not an impediment – whoever wants, has them in Spanish on Bandcamp – to enjoy the Euscreamo in stage four of ‘Nola egin aurre’ (“How does that which has fallen asleep stay awake, if it is difficult for me to stay awake?” light the fire?”) or a brief ‘Hiriak ez du barkatuko’ that could have come from the third EP of ‘Denbora da poligrafo bakarra’, with Iri releasing shoes to the heads from the core of her mother band. ‘Ahalik eta gertuen’ serves as a hinge in the manner of one of those mid-tempos that run through Viva Belgrado’s discography, demonstrating Itzal’s taste for arrangements and the security that comes with having swords of the caliber of Xabi and Tejadas playing shoulder to shoulder. with shoulder With ‘Denbora’ we face a second half in which introspection goes from looking inside the verses to being reflected in the chords, with that calmness with which one visits the rooms of a house in Grand Rapids, MI (“it is difficult to survive in this too long second. It is in this final stretch where you can most appreciate the evolution that I was referring to with the analogy of Dreyer and Bolm’s groups, and ‘Hutsunez beteta’ could be the business card to be asked when asking the question “what does your band sound like?” ?”, while ‘Norabidea’ works as a perfect ending, starting with a cappella rage to end with the preciousness of Envy in a bridge of post-rock and shoegaze whose layers continue to resonate in your head long after you have pressed STOP.