Ruben Riley - Juxtaposition 7"

ruben has been quiet since Nystagmus, the unsung debut cassette released late 2020. He's continued to drum with Disco Junk and work towards finishing their debut, played around with Naarm collective rock band Expo (many of the songs on this release being played with that band) all while living in the old church on the hills of country Victoria. In those hills, perhaps surrounded by lush forrests and express V Line busses he cooked up.... uh.... a rock record. what style of rock? all of the above. I still haven't answered my question, where do I begin?

at the start? alright. the first two tracks off Juxtaposition are, much like a brick thrown at ones face, quite upfront and brutal with a high chance of causing brain damage. Not The Sharpest Tool is a line of speed on top of a moving train, each part moving at a dangerous speed at constant risk of collapsing barely making it alive through 1:30 of locomotive power. Amygdala is a dense eye spinning look into paranoia, degrading and coming back just at the right times, drifting in and out of sanity with two minds chatting for dominance. A fearful riff drives the whole song to dizzying heights

then, in a neck breaking twist not even the highest coasters can predict we're thrown into Headcleaner, a soft massage after the vicious fight. Rubens melodic brilliance shines through a catchy and lazy romp through the meadows of some quiet town following swiftly to The Windmill maybe the most complete and gorgeous song we have released as a label yet. A gentle walk through various riffs and pleasant states of mind, comforting and warm like a blanket on a picnic day

if I'm being honest this release is probably gonna split a lot of minds. people are gonna either love side a or side b and probably write hate letters about the other side. some people like harmonicas others like harmful ideas. the real open minded people, the leaders of society will see the cohesive nature in this chaotic plastic. ruben has shown us an exiting glimpse into the harddrive in the back of his mind and we all better pay attention

- billiam