Null Days / Land Whales

Null Daysfollow-up to the EP Dragon-flyis a considerable leap in terms of production, aesthetic consistency and the band's search for their own sound, in a generational context in which they are increasingly positioning themselves as the flagship of a new way of making rock in Cuba.

This phonogram, the group's second title, is a notably more concise work in terms of the sonority it encompasses, without compromising the variety in the moods reflected. This time they sustain a raspy yet melodic sonority, not so close to the shoegaze but with strong influences of the "noisy and heavy rocks". The main sound references for Null Days were Sonic Youth (above all), Rotten Daisies, Boris and Nirvana. It does not bring an implicit concept, but rather a recounting of personal and generational experiences. 

Null Days was released through Illinois-based US label Forbidden Place Records for release on Bandcamp. On Spotify (and other streaming) the release was by Death Heaven Flowers, the band's own label. The album on Bandcamp surpassed one hundred digital sales less than a month after its release, which are not particularly impressive figures, but not unimpressive in the context of a Cuban band launching with little or no support. Due to this good first reception, the US label committed to making a limited run of CDs for sale in the US and Cuba.

Those of Null Days are stories without a specific timeline, exploring cold feelings, anger at emptiness, and the mind of a young Cuban facing a reality that doesn't give him much to work with. The result is images of flowers lacking the beauty they should bring and a sense of inevitable decay, palpable from the sound to the lyrics, which are in Spanish and English, plus a fragment in Japanese.

As I said before, the album explores desolation, with characters that wander aimlessly, robots moved by inertia, and with the weight of lies and the false self-perception of a society that seeks at all costs to see itself as what it is not. The lyrics of the album are shocking because of the violence of the images: "four year old girls selling marijuana/ a rotten world, their parents use them for smuggling" (Concordia); "you look for solutions in lights and corners" (Honey); "I am being killed by a flower of anxiety" (Dead Flowers), or any passage of Almejeiras (sic), a theme that from beginning to end projects grotesque images, evoking the sensation of walking through this city with its "hidden" corners where misery and the abandonment of humanity reign, with no prospect of a solution or the appearance that anyone cares or is going to do anything about it.

The sound of Null Days complements these ideas, from the raw and dissonant that surrounds hypnotic melodies that, if they had any other texture, would not be far from any pop song, and that in many cases use repetition as a resource to "put the listener in a channel". Here I return to the analogy of cotton candy that I used in the review of Dragon-flyThis album conveys a similar feeling to me, like a noble and innocent soul searching for meaning or a light through which to find some hope for the future, only to find decay and decay. How else can this emotion sound?

Tuesday Days has one of the catchiest melodies of the album and the most direct lyrics of all. It talks about the inertia of being an adult and the rejection of this detached attitude to act, the detached way in which a modern society is built and lives, without dreams, hopes, or reasons to do; just inertia. It is not uncommon to feel claustrophobic when trying to stay alive in a dead environment.

The guitars of the intro in Concordia I couldn't explain if it's the texture or the dissonance, but it sounds spectacular and different. The lyrics talk about "the girl aesthetic"who thinks everyone loves her, and the four-year-old who sells marijuana. They are two sad archetypes that, although exaggerated, reflect two contrasting realities that can coexist in the Cuba of 2024.

Honey brings a more direct energy, a more intense performance, guitars that take from the punk energy and also create an ethereal ambience with the rest of the production and the vocals drowned in the mix.

Flowers are a recurrent resource in Null Daysbut in no song is it as central as in Dead Flowerswhere the voice is equally drowned out by the guitars and percussion, which dominate the mix with their violent energy. 

A special mention must be given to the guitars of DeclineThe sound is haunting from the start, until it is drowned out by the violent percussion of the track. This is a journey of more than thirteen minutes where the lyrics are less understandable than in any other and the crux of the song is in the instrumentation, the heaviness of the track, the distortion, the drums and the constant ball of noise that is felt in the background of the mix. This track confirms to me that, in terms of production and sound, Land Whales is miles ahead of the rest of the rock projects in the yard. 

Almejeiras (sic) has the fastest pace of Null Dayswith English lyrics describing grotesque images that could be in any corner of Havana, but let's imagine (because of the title) that they take place on the side of the Ameijeiras Hospital, on any given day going down Belascoaín Street.

All songs were written and performed by Land Whales. With credits to Martin Schellekens on vocals, songwriting and guitars; Sofia Rama on bass; Martin Espinosa on guitar and vocals; and Christopher Maceiro on drums. Production was handled by the band, and mixing and mastering was done by Martin Schellekens. The cover artwork is by Carlos Quiroga (@codito.western on Instagram).

In summary, Null Days is a leap from Dragon-fly in terms of identity, or finding a recognizable sound seal which, in my opinion, is achieved with the distinctive guitars and the chaotic and violent percussions that occur throughout the work, with the exception of tracks like Almejeiras where they bring a slightly more "relaxed" cadence (even quasi-Latin), but without losing the characteristic raspiness and violence. 

With only two EPs they have managed to establish a different and singular sound, while incorporating references to specific themes, places and situations of the Cuban context; something that other projects in the backyard tend to avoid. Another milestone in the (short) career of Land Whales, which seems to improve every year and we hope to maintain that trend. Cuban rock will be grateful.

*Due to the aesthetics of Null DaysIn addition, many of the lyrics are intelligible in some (or most) songs, so that the lyrics of all the topics of Null Days we will share them below.

Tuesday Days

I hate Tuesday days, they are so dry.

People have no goals other than work 

It makes me feel claustrophobic every open space,

just living robocrats lost in money.

It hurts so much not to see the warmth of people, everything is so cold. 

It hurts so much not to see smiling people, everything is so cold.

Concordia

Flowers from the rain hang from my window

The river already hurts, its water tastes bitter

Four-year-old girls selling marijuana, a rotten world.

Her mother uses them for smuggling, her eyes lost 

We think we're unique and special, and we're so alike, and we're so alike. 

The girl aesthetic she thinks everyone loves her, and she knows nothing, and she knows nothing.

Flowers from the rain hang from my window, the river already hurts, its water tastes bitter.

Four-year-old girls selling marijuana, a rotten world, their parents using them for contraband, their eyes lost.

We think we are unique and special, and we are so alike and we are so equal.

The girl aesthetic she thinks everyone loves her and she knows nothing about it.

Honey

There are 12 hearts lying on the balconies, the illusion dies.

Nailed an awl in the hearts, you look for solution in lights and in corners, nailed an awl in the hearts, you look for solution in lights and in corners.

The dream told you something, but I no longer agree, if it was in vain, I know it was not.

Dead Flowers

Dead flowers on my balcony (a flower without salvation)

I pray to the father in a corner (I can no longer feel my heart).

Everything is moved by anxiety, I don't know how I'm going to hide it, I throw myself into the river, anyway, what difference does it make, I'm swimming in an emotional lake.

No, in an emotional lake, I am being killed by a flower of anxiety, in an emotional lake, I am being killed by a flower of anxiety.

Decline
You see so many ways to separate yourself, catharsis never leaves my mind.

You feel the pains everywhere, if I cut my throat don't miss me. 

Come slowly, stay in your mind.

We jump will jump in your arms, grasshoppers in your space.

I will remember, where are you Maria?

I will cut out, where is maria?

They pass by, so tired

They pass by, so tired

But it's the best.

I will remember, so defeated

I will be reborn, though sorrows reduce all space 

Transparent, ways to kill the afternoon.

So many ways to kill yourself in a sunset.

Flowers deform, when they break, all those heretics.

So many ways to cut all these evils

Transparent.

Almejeiras

A cat with a broken mouth, a man sleeping in a carton box

A horrible swet since I pass the door, two older men in the kitchen doing drugs 

Two guys fucking a cow next to the fucking door x4

Doing drugs on the floor with a tape on a fucking I don't know what

Too many boxes and rum, everyone was drunk, everyone was lacking

People passing behind us with a strong swet, there where also fleas in my shirt

The prince is more like that, there was a crab in a trash can, i don't wtf was doing that shit there but they had a crab in the fucking place

Don't be without me

Broken flowers on the bed

she will never be a saint again

His bond is in the soul

that I know I can take off

she knows that love doesn't exist

His dad taught her

The smoke is the one who baptizes it

And the screams were so rotten yeah

I can feel it inside of my bedroom

violated dreams

worn color

don't be by my side

The sky recounts my nights

rotten is the moon

I no longer accept your reproaches

please, doubt

she has already seen the forest burn

In his eyes is the water

I'm not going to put a name

To what is hidden inside

violated dreams

worn color

don't be by my side

don't be by my side

don't be by my side

don't be by my side

don't be without me