Kalistani Major History

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Dias Azules releases Insomnio today
Anantonese Punks focus more on Punk Rock ethic, can't help sounding pop
Kaliburg, Ananto
April 3, 5053


Insomnio tries to be punk, but due to the zeitgeist, ends up sounding like rock

Conspiculously absent in the Wave of poppunk emanating from the Mainland over the last several years has been participation by Antonese Bands, most of whom seem intent on continuing the EDM and RF music trends which have been the island's mainstays for decades.  But a long anticipated LCR release aims to change that.  The group Dias Azules, from the Kaliburg punk underground centered in the Southeast Kaliburg neighborhood of Capital Hill and the adjacent campus of Kaliburg Republican University, dropped the record Insomnio today.  The album, released in Vrassan and separately in Egelian, represents the most determined effort by the trio to break into the mainstream, and join their southern cousins in making music that has been topping the charts for the last few years.

The record has great potential to succeed in the current music environment:  At no other time in Kalistan's long and industrious cultural history has punk so dominated the music scene nationwide.  And we should say, given Kalistan's position as the musical center of Terra, at no time have punk bands reached such broad audiences abroad either.  But success has eluded Dias Azules to date because of the band's consistent efforts to sabotage their own careers, due to some odd commitment to a "no sell out" ethic which is prevalent among Kaliburg punk bands.  Lead singer and guitarist Jose Mas Fuerte said this, in 5049:  "Punk is about like purity of motive.  Its not about making money:  Nothing we ever did was for the money.  It was all to spread the punk message.  So when some suit comes to us and offers us a stack of cash, we gotta say no way."

That changed when the band was approached by LCR two years ago and offered an opportunity to record a record with the upstart label.  "We paid for it ourselves," said mas Fuerte.  "Like the label is only distributing it.  So, once the back end is taken care of we can sell it for nothing if we want to.  When we do make it, if it sells three or four hundred copies, that will be a good day for us."  Neither LCR or Dias Azules knew how huge the sound that LCR distributes would get at the time, though.  Projections from industry analysts predict that Insomnio will eventually join its labelmates in platinum territory, and could possible join FStop's Suburban Hellscape in diamond territory by the end of the year, especially if Dias Azules decides to tour in support of this record. 

The tension is that in trying to not sell out, they are being overtaken by popular tastes, and their music, which aimed at sitting far outside the mainstream is now mainstream.  What was once punk snottiness and counter culture expression is now the very definition of popular preference, and millions of kids and adults are pouring their money into building record collections of music that sounds in many ways similar to Dias Azules.  Mas Fuerte seems nonplussed and a bit bewildered by the whole development:  "Well, I mean, at least we're keeping it real."

What Insomnio is then is a straight punk record, complete with attitude and up-tempo energy.  The record has 14 songs on it, and clocks in at just over 32 minutes, making it a very quick listen.  But each song sounds more like up-tempo hard rock than the band intended; this is not bad, especially compared to previous releases from this band which were a combination of live performances and 4 track recordings, all of terrible quality.  Insomnio stands with the recent release by label mate The Progeny in terms of quality and energy, and is genuinely good rock, devoid of the sophomoric vulgarity of many of the earlier tracks from this band, but focusing more on topics of alienation, anxiety, and escapism through community in the scene.  The Egelian versions are quite a bit more enjoyable still, due to the punnery that Mas Fuerte uses in his loose translation of the Vrassan.  Bassist Michael Dornitz handles rhythm duties for the band very well, and quite frequently adds brief solos in place of false stops, to keep the energy flowing.  And the drummer, Alberto de Tres, is perhaps one of the best timekeepers in modern Kalistani rock.  Critics who reviewed this album called him "El Metronomo". 

The record is a solid contribution to the cannon, and standout tracks include the medley "Comida para la Mente/Disaffected" and "Anxiety Cantana"  True to the form, any one of the songs on this album could be the lead single from the record, but as of today, none have been officially released to the radio as such, and so DJs have been playing their favorites across the Republic, which has the consequence of eliminating the concept of a deepcut for this record.  Within the next week, regular listeners to KRTVN Radio 1 will hear the entire record, as each song has been placed into regular rotation.  This may prevent the record from entering the singles chart, but will guarantee it a top spot on the Album Chart within three weeks, if sales are as predicted.

Listeners can listen to the full Vrassan version of Insomnio by Dias Azules here.
[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pXx8QxIzok]