A brief history of the band:
After spending a couple years on the underground European scene, some where between punk and electronica "Greta and her Jetta" and the "Saab Mob" starting playing more shows together and drawing more crowds as a team, rather than competing for the same audience. "Greta" front man Alejandro Schuster has been quoted as saying "...
we all started going in the 
same direction, and our fan base grew. Both bands started playing out together and eventually we all started creating together." After a few singles and hidden tracks on each bands respective albums featuring the other bands members the line up was set swapping some of the members around. Schuster remained on vocals, occasionally backed up by guitarist Yves Ruggiero("Mob") , Pieter Del Mar("Mob") would drive the beat as the drummer, Frederick Rasmussen("Greta") took on the duties of synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines, Arturo Venman("Mob") holds down the low end on bass, and Reid Von Kohler("Greta") shreds and keeps the crowd's attention with brilliant riffs, articulate picking, and high octane stage presence as lead guitarist.
Now after I heard about the super group forming and touring through out Europe, I got excited as a fan of both bands, hoping they would release something more than a one off song on a compilation, or a few downloads on my space. After signing to Broken Water records in early 2008 they went into production on "Now!" in May. October 14 is the date for the slated official debut release across Europe for "The Civix"
The journey through "Now!" starts with a 2 minute long intro. The intro is a mash up of "Greta and her Jetta" and "Saab Mob" songs, in a way signifying the unification of the two. The mash up was a collaboration between Rasmussen and the albums producer Gar Von Neuss. After the short intro the album goes right into "Home is where you are" Right away Von Kohler shines with a buzz saw riff coming through your stereo. As the song builds Schuster goes from telling a story right into screaming with his unique vocal style and incredible range. The full song is an excellent start, although the synth is a tad over produced. The song winds down with an unforgettable bass line as the rest of the instruments and vocals drop out. The bass line picks up speed a bit then changes to the bass line of the next track titled "Running lines, doing circles" Venman's bass plays beautifully off of Rasmussen's synth work. The synth and drums start to sync up. As the guitars come in with an intense biting sound Schuster puts everything at peace with a harmony over the instruments and his range is really displayed as he sings lyrics about recreational drug use, turning into abuse and spilling over into work and losing everything with out realizing it. The song powers through 4 minutes and ends as your radio starts shaking prior to exploding.
Track seven seems to be the masterpiece of the record. It has a softer start than the previous songs. "Nobodies & nothings, know things" Kohler and Ruggiero come in with dueling acoustic guitars as a soft drum beat comes in. Venman starts in with a droning bass line that entrances as the guitars seem to fade into the background of the prominent bass. Electronic drums and synth come in. Rasmussen really gets to show his talent in this track as the music starts an odyssey which comes back around after 4 minutes to Kohler and Ruggiero's guitar playing. The same opening riff is now with electric guitars with plenty of crunchy distortion. Schuster has some vocal work on this and it fits in, and seems more like an instrument than vocals and lyrics. The high light of the album in my opinion.
Track 8 is a song a little out of the usual style of the band. It is a catchy up beat pop punk song derivative of some of the more popular bands of the moment, Fall out boy, Panic at the disco and My Chemical Romance. Schuster over sings, the song is over produced, minimal electronic influence, more emphasis on harmonics and guitar work and Venman's bass almost disappears shadowing Ruggiero's chords. Possibly an attempt to show their range for any prospective record execs in America , or maybe a poor attempt to try their hand at pop punk.
Tracks 9 and 10 are each a live performance of "the Civix" line up doing a new interpretation of a"Greta and her Jetta" and a"Saab Mob" song respectively. The same two songs featured in the opening mash up to bring everything full circle.
I left a few tracks out of the review because I felt they were songs that met the baseline expectations of this band. The songs were basically filler. I'm hoping for the album to find enough success here in the states for a tour so I could see the live show. So keep an eye out for a Oct 14 European release. Try to track down an online order, or the import bin at the local music store (possibly Newbury Comics) and give this new and exciting band a listen.
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