Review Summary: A solid compilation of outtakes, demos, remixes and live versions.
Jaime Sin Tierra’s first album set a pretty high standard for the boys from the Northern Buenos Aires Outskirts, one that I’m sure they were pretty nervous about living up to. They were beginning to get hyped up, sharing stages with Suarez (who were the kings of indie at that point) and becoming one of the bands to look out for in their scene. For their sophomore, they had to pull all the stops and prevent their reputations to plummet down to them being just another story of a band that fluked.
As such, the band released Autochocador in the year 2000 to criti- oh wait, that’s after. Right. Yeah, there’s actually another album between the two.
In 1999, JST dropped Caja Negra, a compilation record (they even stated in the album’s liner notes that it is not to be considered a real album) featuring demos, outtakes, live renditions and remixes. Although a bit strange as a followup, it served as a small taste of what was to come with their real sophomore.
Due to the unorthodox nature of the release, the band decide to embrace some more eccentric sounds to their arsenal. Opener “Explotar” being a great example, with a drum machine, a repeating 4 chord structure that loops onwards for 5 minutes, with the end of the track being a sudden interruption of the track’s buildup, turning the song into harsh noise for a good amount of seconds, with the very last few moments serving as a preview for one of the seminal tracks from their 2000 masterpiece. Tracks like “(22)”, “Ella Es Mas Bonita Que Mi Novia” and “Guillermoanden” embrace a much more lo-fi sound, whilst Nada Más sounds like a track that was cut from their debut due to its heavier, noisier sound.
Explotar and Ella Es Mas Bonita shows the first time where synthesizers become a centerpiece to the band’s sound, with Explotar’s drum machine and Ella’s gliding saw wave taking leads during the latter half of the song.
As for the remixes, they’re not too out there. Marmota’s remix is fairly enjoyable and Alfonsina being almost a completely different song than the original altogether. The live versions range from great to meh; Capsula’s live version I prefer to the original thanks to the flute introduced into the performance, with the same actually making Triste’s live version worse.
The album closes with “Abrigo”, the band’s most Radiohead-y song, reminiscent of Karma Police or maybe even Polyethylene. It’s actually my favorite song off the album, something about that last part is great, with Nico shouting “Corriera por mis venas hoy!” as the drums, piano, guitar and bass all hit you in the face hand in hand until it fades back into the first verse, with a lonely piano to keep the vocals’ company until coming to an end. A bit of silence separates the end of Abrigo and the hidden track, a demo version of El Techo De Mi Cuarto from their debut. It’s raw and I actually can’t tell if it’s Nicolas Kramer on vocals or Lucarda, their drummer at that time.
Overall, Caja Negra is a great compilation full of memorable unheard tracks, enjoyable remixes and fun live performances of songs from their debut.
