JungleNoize

They’ve got a conga player (Alex McBride) but there’s about as little of the jungle in Junglenoize’s sound as there is actual jungle left on the globe. Modern technology and noise have intruded on ancient music forms, and no one born before this decade would consider anything about Junglenoize primitive.

“River of Rhythm” is an instrumental progressive jam that’s too metal and angry to be as hippie-friendly as the band’s name, or the visual of McBride shaking his maracas would suggest. “Esoteric” gets darker, thanks to Tyler Olsson’s heavy growling about “the molecules in your blood.” The song continues like this until it becomes its own state of mind, long after it’s shaken your brain to jelly.

Sarek Gutierrez wails away accordingly on his standard drum kit, and the extra percussionist pressures bassist Andrew Maley to find the common thread between McBride and Gutierrez. Maley’s assertive success puts his bass in the lead, setting up a complex structure sturdy enough for Josh Gutierrez to hang his thickly knotted guitar riffs from. He gets an even better workout on “Fuzzy Lightning,” or it sounds like he does, anyway. It’s impossible to see what he’s doing hunkered in the shadows behind McBride, but he’s generating some impressive electronic squealing, enough for an army of cyborg pigs programmed with an impressive sense of melody and rhythm. The dude can play, is what I’m saying, and it all sounds surprisingly aggressive coming from someone who seems to be strategically hidden from view.
Junglenoize

Sat, Mar 27
Limelight
2718 N. St. Mary's
(210) 735-7775 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (210) 735-7775 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
myspace.com/limelightsa

“We wanna share music with you,” Olsson says between songs, hawking the free CDs that sit in the box at his feet. “Hillbilly Paranoia,” the first in a Roman-numeraled song trio, doesn’t sound a thing like its name, either — not a single hickish note, just a long, dark, droning buildup to “Wipeout,” a showcase for a few more distortion-heavy guitar solos over an intentionally plodding rhythm. The hare finally overtakes the tortoise, though, in “Surf’s Up!” and it sounds pretty pissed off. Maley’s bass is back with force, as is Olsson’s voice. “This is not the one — oh no,” he howls, and despite the song’s title, it’s not immediately evident anyone in the band’s ever heard a surf-rock song or even gone outside during the daytime. Junglenoize sounds more like a group of musicians young enough to approach prog-rock working backwards from Metallica, and winding up, somehow, at Black Sabbath. Also, congas. Beats the shit out of me. — Jeremy Martin

For actual review :http://www.sacurrent.com/music/story.asp?id=71059 - San Antonio Current - Jeremy Martin

New student band makes splash into San Antonio music scene

By Veronica Salinas

paisanoarts@sbcglobal.net
|

Published: Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, April 6, 2010
JungleNoize

Courtesy of Junglenoize

Junglenoize combines art and music to tickle the audience’s senses.

When I first learned of the band’s name, Junglenoize (yes, that’s noise with a ‘z’), my ears assumed it would be coming from a group of guys going through their college Rastafarian phase or perhaps from a trio of rappers. However, the six members of Junglenoize are quite the opposite.


For UTSA students Joshua Gutierrez begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, 21 (guitar), Sarek Gutierrez, 19 (drums), Andrew Maley, 20 (bass), Alex McBride, 21 (percussion), band artist Rawb Bishop, 20 and Tyler Olsson, 20 (vocals, guitar, keys of Northwest Vista College), being a member of a band sounds very similar to the calling card of a superhero: student by day—musician by night.


Although the band is fairly new, they have been playing gigs for only two and a half months-the fresh-faced members are eager to make their way into the San Antonio music scene. Officially, the band, which is based out of Katy, Texas, where five out of the six members are from, didn’t start playing together until 2008. However, in their bright and shining eyes they have the focus and determination of seasoned musicians.


“For all of us it’s kind of like a form of therapy because you don’t really have anyone else to talk to about stuff like that. Then you can’t [play] our guitars and not tell anyone what we’re thinking,” Joshua said. “Our name came from the [holistic] binary concept of soul [music]--which is the jungle and noise-- which is the rock and roll.”


When asked about Junglenoize’s influences, Maley said, “Our biggest influence is taking all the stuff that we like and incorporating it into our own style, and creating something with that style in mind with our own external influences like life, school, friends and fun. Just existence, period, is number one inspiration to everybody I imagine.”


While listening to their music, you get a kaleidoscopic sense of their existence.

Junglenoize puts a contemporary twist in their resonance by fusing genres like jazz, soul, psychedelic and classic rock. Their unique style of music has multi-cultural influences as well as references to pop culture. While they played a live show, a tapestry of the zodiac calendar hung behind them and a Mexican flag covered an amp like a tablecloth.


“We try to make it a full-on experience. We try to tailor to as many senses as we can. You don’t go and passively watch us play. We want it to be more interactive and engaging,” Maley said.


The psychedelic undertones flowing within their music are also reflected in the hands of Bishop whose artistic abilities are inspired by Junglenoize’s sound and vice versa.
“The basic concept is like equal balance of music and art,” Bishop, said. His work is a mix of swirling colors and images, which have a surrealistic feel as well as a geometric harmony.


One of the main hurdles the band faces as students is managing time.
“Time is always against you,” Joshua said. Somehow these guys manage to balance a full-time school schedule, work and music.


“We want to be able to balance both [academics and music] because we don’t want to be like some bands we know that just drop everything [for the band] and wind up doing it for two years then break up. We wanna make sure we have good heads on our shoulders,” Sarek said.


“We’re trying to be successful in our own way. So we’re just trying to do things in stages. First, it was getting shows, and the next stage was getting into a magazine. We’re trying to complete small goals at a time.”


They just got a review written about them in the San Antonio Current and are also featured in a publication called Backbeat Magazine.


Be sure to catch the band at their next show, which will be in Austin at the Red Eyed Fly, April 14.


More information on Junglenoize can be found at www.myspace.com/junglenoize and at www.facebook.com/junglenoize.
-Veronica Salinas

For actual review: http://www.paisano-online.com/a-e/students-by-day-musicians-by-night-1.1307200 - UTSA Paisano -Veronica Salinas