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Demo Review

Juanita Family and Friends
Juanita Family and Friends

Article written by Chris H - Jun 5, 2005

Lana Rebel is the sort of chameleon character who crops up on the fringe of things once in a while. Bass player in a band called Last of the Juanitas, who�s music is described as �insanely complex jazz-metal� she also spends her time as a painter and, now, making some unusual soulful country on the side.

This record was described to me as the sort of country that makes you think of being in a deep-south bar at two in the morning when the pick-up�s broken down outside. You�ve got nowhere to go and no way of getting there so you knock back one more beer and pick up the guitar.

But there�s something else in here. Lana�s vocals aren�t straight country � it�s like she�s not going to let you off that easily. There�s something of the PJ Harvey character to her. Her stark lyrics are poetic in their delivery and raw in their content. She wears her big, warm heart on her sleeve, and isn�t afraid to admit that she has made mistakes along the way. �I once had love but now I�m alone for reasons I could have foreseen / but now it�s too late and fate has laid her cruel hand on me�.

This record isn�t one you can pick up in HMV. Apparently Radio One have a copy and have invited the band over for a session, but they haven�t secured any big deal yet. A copy of this which was recently donated to a charity auction sold for seventy quid, but it should be available from Audley Music - one man who�s willing to burn off copies of records for artists who don�t have record contracts and sell them on over the internet. However, he does have proper copies of this, so you�ll get the gorgeous packaging aswell, a rough cardboard sleeve scrawled over with red biro illustrations and handwritten lyrics.

Lana Rebel sounds like the southern counterpart to the grungey, alternative Kim Deal, of the Pixies and The Breeders. To go from the sort of math-rock that Last of the Juanitas make to this rough-hewn, heartbreak country shows some diversity in her character that won�t stop here.

Contact: michaeljayuk@yahoo.co.uk

Links:
http://www.geocities.com/juanitafamily/