Words from Ciro Pertusi…
Free or Dead is a double album with 21 songs, all included on a single CD. It's a bold artistic endeavor, entirely handcrafted, especially considering the extremely uncertain times we face regarding the problem of piracy.
That's why we decided to title it that way, as a way of giving continuity to the ideological idea of the final song of the previous album called "La Jauria" in which the phrase is found: living free, running free, free or dead, there is no option here.
The album is very varied in style, featuring our new guitarist Sebastian Ambesi, replacing Pichu Serniotti. Ambesi brings a fresh sound, further distinguishing it from the previous album, which is precisely what Jauria aims for and proposes, starting with the album title itself. The idea is to avoid being tied to anything, especially with art, which is an expression of constantly changing and spontaneous dynamics. So, with that clarified as an introduction, let me tell you a little about the album, track by track.
Glass Children:
Musically it's a modern rock song, although it has a lot of The Who's influence at its core.
It doesn't refer literally to children suffering from this disease, but rather to all sensitive beings who barely survive in a cannibalistic world where criticism and constant judgment of everyone against everyone else is our daily bread, from TV, press, social media, politicians, etc…
Boomerang
It's a song by our drummer, Ray Fajardo. Musically, it's very Jauria-esque, with influences from Weezer, Ramones, Elvis Presley, and Kiss!
The lyrics are very direct and talk about what you give in your life…you give love, love comes back…you give heartbreak…and that will also come back to you.
Karma Blues
This is melodic hardcore. The lyrics aren't easy to explain because they use quite personal language. The first verse is in the first person, a reflection on who I am, where I am, and the idea of someone repeating a pattern or cyclical story throughout their life.
The second verse speaks in a collective sense, starting from that famous and abhorrent phrase we have ingrained: they treat us like animals!!!! ....if we fundamentally consider that animals are worthy of mistreatment, then how can we expect anything more than to be at the mercy of the biggest or strongest predator.
Then it goes to a "bridge" that continues in a self-critical way about humanity in the cyber age, pointing to the fast and superficial relationships that nowadays don't even get started, they suddenly end.
And to conclude, the question posed as a resolution: now you're crying?... after I told you a thousand times you were going to crash into that wall?
We Do Not Belong
It was released in 2013 and included on a compilation album against open-pit mega-mining. Musically, it's punk rock in the style of Social Distortion, Bad Religion, and Millencollin, with many vocal harmonies. The image that best describes the lyrics is two children, a boy and a girl, living in a city in a state of ecological emergency. Faced with the indifference and inaction of the adults, they take their most precious, basic, and vital belongings and run away along the roads in search of a more promising future.
High Definition
The music is mid-tempo heavy rock, in the style of AC/DC's Hells Bells.
The song speaks of the fumigation with agrochemicals in fields near communities and the fatal consequences of these practices; they are poisoning us, and by the time we truly become aware of it, it will be too late. The song features the voices of mothers from the Ituzaingó neighborhood in Córdoba, one of the many affected by these practices.
And also…
This song started out very folk-like, but little by little we worked a lot on the harmonies and vocal phrasing to arrive at this result, which became a song in the style of Cadena Perpetua (Life Sentence), which is why we invited Hernan Valente to sing!
The lyrics talk about when that person comes into your life and awakens you, showing you a world of truths so revealing that it drives you crazy, but in a good way.
My Friend:
Musically it has some influence from Roberto Carlos, Sugar and Morrissey…it's a very rhythmic and emotional rock.
The lyrics are a sung letter, written for a friend and for many others. It's simple and direct, like friendship itself, without any beating around the bush.
The Bridge Beyond Experience:
Musically, it's an Oi!-style punk rock anthem with many vocals and catchy choruses. Diego Vainer's piano and keyboard arrangements lend it a unique and emotive atmosphere.
The lyrics address a topic as sensitive as the right to euthanasia.
Wolves
Like "Amigo Mío," this is one of the first songs I composed for this album. The music is rock in the style of songs like "Ascenso" (from our first album) but with some arrangements reminiscent of certain songs from Tarantino films, featuring strings and a strong nocturnal atmosphere.
The lyrics speak of two people who keep finding each other through reincarnations. But they also encompass all those who feel reflected in a primal, instinctive, or animalistic feeling that is revealed in moments of passion where reality becomes questionable and you're left wondering…who am I? Am I this wolf that howls when it truly loves, or am I just the poor, unhappy person of everyday life?
Flamethrower
This song was on the exam table for a long time and in the end it not only passed but became one of the most beloved.
It's a rock style like Marea or La Renga, mixed with Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and a lot of Jauria.
Ray emphasized that the band's signature rock sound, or Marea style, should be imprinted on the music. So much so that, by a twist of fate, Kutxi Romero, the singer from Marea, wrote to us saying: "Are you recording a new album? Maybe you could invite me to sing a song, or something?" And well… our hearts burst with excitement, and we sent him this song that seems written just for him… so there's Kutxi from Marea gracing this rock song that speaks of never giving up and pushing forward like tireless soldiers!
Lullaby
The music is somewhat experimental, at least for Jauria. It has those elements of the strange songs I've made my whole life that I don't know where they come from. It's very emotional, with string arrangements and a strong nocturnal atmosphere. Initially, it was called "Lullaby from the Devil Father to the Devil Son." I think it won't be an easy song to digest, and we like that! The lyrics question how good we think we are, the dubiousness of our intentions, and yet how we embark on such committed endeavors as raising children or leading nations… Are we good? Are we evil? … We are both good and evil.
Roberto
It's mid-tempo heavy rock music, with influences from Kiss, Neurotic Outsiders, Velvet Revolver, the Beatles… it's by our guitarist Seba Ambesi, and the lyrics are inspired by Roberto Arlt's "The Seven Madmen." It speaks of the seed that, day by day, fosters the transformation of an ordinary man into a murderer.
Our power is.
It's a cover of the Dragon Ball Z series which started two years ago as an acoustic version and we finally recorded it electric and rock-style, just like we currently do live.
Factories
The music has that heavy feel of Pink Floyd's The Wall album, a bit of Metallica and a little bit of Las Pelotas, but nothing intentional in the search except for that Floyd idea, the rest of the ingredients came about on their own.
String arrangements were recorded that gave it a sought-after post-war atmosphere, unemployed workers...that's the theme: factories closing and how you have to make ends meet in the face of the fall of industry, the ruthlessness of the models and their current economy.
For Falls
This is a hardcore track by Seba Ambesi, a song we imagine would be great live. With lots of backing vocals and harmonies, it has its own journey, its own story… the lyrics are a journey through mental images and emotions contained within a single heart. There's a lot of "eMBLA" (exploding) from emotional confinement.
Luis Espia
Luis is an Almendra-style musician, with Sebastian Ambesi's guitar work very much in the style of Argentine bands from the 70s such as "Color Humano", mixed with some of those song-like themes of the Foo Fighters.
When it came time to sing it, I did a first test at night at home, and since my little daughter was asleep, I had to sing it half-whispered… that's when Spinetta appeared, very much in the Almendra style of the song Pototo or one of those… that's when we decided that the lyrics should be an evocation or tribute to Luis, and we approached it from a place not of absence or death but quite the opposite, as if Luis is an “imprint” that is still present, spying from the music.
Mestizamba
At first it was kind of a chacarera… it started somewhat jokingly, caricaturing those folk singers who, when they begin to sing each phrase, emphasize the first syllable… then I added the lyrics, and that's how the song came about… along the way, like a mixed-breed dog that grows up on the street, free. And that's precisely what the lyrics are about. To achieve the style, we had help from Diego Arnedo of Divididos on the bombo drum, Tano Marciello of Almafuerte on the acoustic guitar, and Felipe Barrozo, formerly of Intoxicados, on the other acoustic guitar.
Wild Dog
This is a song like “La Jauria”, a rock song somewhere between heavy metal, hardcore and punk, in the style of Motorhead, Judas Priest, Bad Religion…
The lyrics blend the road-trip spirit of biker tribes with Ricardo Iorio, whom we love dearly and whom we felt compelled to evoke as a wild dog who comes from many past lives, fighting to the end, being as he is: authentic, straightforward, and undoubtedly a unique artist and communicator.
The Angel of the South Zone
This is another evocative song, a tribute. This time in a country style, reminiscent of Johnny Cash, Social, Elvis, and Sandro… to whom this song, written by Ray and me, is dedicated. "El ángel de la zona sur" (The Angel of the South) was born during those trips back and forth to Studio Quinto in Adrogué, where much of the pre-production and rehearsals for this album took place. The daily commute through the Banfield train station, with its mural of Sandro, sparked this idea to write about the unique story of a young man who, from a working-class neighborhood, made his way in life with a handful of songs. Featuring Andrés Ciro on harmonica, Edu Schmidt on violin, and Maikel from Kapanga on acoustic guitars.
Colors in the Wind
This is a cover of the song from the movie Pocahontas, a song with incredible melodies and lyrics that are very much in defense of nature and support Indigenous peoples. We respected the music in all its chords; we only changed the rhythm to a kind of countrycore punk, very road-trip-oriented. In the end, because of those "no-rules" ideas that abound in Jauría, we wanted "Colors in the Wind" to be segued into "Always in Vanity" by the Romanticistas Shaolins, my brother Federico Pertusi's band.
The intention for them to work together is deliberate, since both songs are practically "statements of principles".
Here on this last track of the album, we once again have the fabulous strings conducted by Nico Sorin, who also recorded the strings for "Religionaré" on the previous album... well friends, that's all, I hope you enjoy Libre o Muerto!
Technical specifications:
Produced by: Ray Fajardo, Ciro Pertusi and Fran Marafioti.
Recorded at: Panda Studios, Studio Quinto, Satured, Joder!, Quick Sound and Osberg's ship by Francisco Marafioti, Pablo Barros, Max Scenna, Hernan “Tery” Langer, Sebastian Manta and Ray Fajardo.
Guitar tech: Hernan “Tery” Langer / bass tech: Cristian “Gula” Cocchiararo / drum doctor: Pablo Bendov
Mixed by: Jim Wirt at Crushtones Studios, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Crushtones assistance: Jeff Moczydlowski.
Mastered by: John Naclerio at “Nada Recording Studio”, New York, USA.
Mastering edition: Daniel Romero
Art, design and illustrations: Seba Luce
CD illustration: Seba Luce Oscar Galbarini
Art concept: Ciro Pertusi Seba Luce
Featuring Martin “El Tucán” on keyboards
And Hernan Tery Langer (Carajo) on several guitar arrangements throughout the album.
In all the songs they performed choruses, harmonies and additional voices: Federico Pertusi, Enzo Insegna, Gabriel Otero, Hernan Valente, Javier Robles and Francisco Marafioti.