Junior Squad (Venezuela) 1966-1970

1966-New Pop Group

Due to its geographic location atop South America, Venezuelan musicians were in a favorable position during the '60s to merge the musical influences arriving from land, air and sea with their own regionalisms. Junior Squad certainly delivered the full-fledged pop goods filled with abundant hooks and a harbor full of ‘60s influences.  In retrospect, a discernible career arc can be traced as each of their records sound like the encapsulating cover art and design.  As might be detected by viewing the front cover of their debut, the combo delivers jingle-jangle pop rock au go-go teeming with endearing charm, earnest intent and the requisite tambourine. Discomoda Records’ truth in advertising is a refreshing way to present their attractive and alluring mix of folk-rock, pop and instrumentals. The combo from Caracas reflected both the tones of their times (1966-1970), while they also concocted a unique Venezuelan spin on their sound. 

L-R Valere Díaz (vocals, bass), Teresa Díaz (vocals), Fernando Cohen (drums)
Néstor Ramírez (guitar), Gilberto Rebolledo (keyboards)

New Pop Group
The group's marks of distinction were their multi-layered male-female harmonies rising over melodic songs almost entirely sung en Español. Stirring melodies are offered by Teresa Díaz and her bass playing brother Valere Díaz and they share singing lead on a song-by-song basis. Their debut is an express of non-stop covers, but some of them are so obscure they come across as originals.  The more familiar covers range from the hits of the  Seekers to the Turtles, which are fitting indicators of their sound.  The delightfully concise album is packed with exceptional musicianship as they have solid command of their instruments. The bright and precise guitar playing of Néstor Ramírez particularly sparkles as it verges on the edge of coiling surf rock and sparkling electric folk-rock. Ramirez was also responsible for their impressive arrangements. Another key element is the percolating skating rink Farfisa Combo Compact organ presided over by Gilberto Rebolledo. It chimes like the best doorbells and percolates like Mr. Coffee as it embellishes and enhances a perfect mid-sixties pop rock sound. 

The Joe Meek Appreciation Society

Further explorations into their layers of covers reveal some rather unexpected wrinkles. “Gotta Be a First Time”/"Siempre Hay una Primera Vez” was originally a 1967 single from the Riot Squad (who would later feature David Bowie). The song also has the distinction of being Joe Meek's final production before things got tragic at Meek’s studio home on 304 Holloway Road. In addition, it was composed by the New York songwriting team of Larry Kusik and Ritchie Adams. Larry Kusik is the late uncle of Lenny Kaye while Ritchie Adams is best known as co-writing "Tossin' And Turnin'” for Bobby Lewis besides stacks of other songs that were recorded by the likes of the Blues Magoos, Every Mother’s Son and the Electric Prunes. The Meek connections and influence continue throughout the album. They cover Glenda Collins’ atmospheric “Don't Let It Rain On Sunday/ “Que No Lleva En Domingo” and “My Heart Didn’t Lie”/”Mi Corazon Nunca Mintio”-both written by Joe Meek and Mike Collet. Side two features the Meek composition “Don’t Worry Baby”/”No Te Preocupes Nena" that was originally recorded by Heinz (Burt) as well as the Riot Squad’s “It's Never Too Late To Forgive”/"Nunca Es Tarde Para Perdonar,” which was produced by Joe Meek.  By the way, the Riot Squad were popular in Venezuela to the point of placing records in their Top 10 and frequent offers to tour the country. 

Drilling Down
Junior Squad were equally adept at instrumentals as they delivered the T-Bones’ big instrumental hit “No Matter What Shape”/”En El Barco” in gleaming fashion with haunting backing harmonies. If Los Shakers were the South American Beatles, Junior Squad were the Seekers of South America. They particularly shine on the Seekers covers: “I Will Never Find Another You”/"De Una Nueva Vida," “A World of Our Own”/"Todo Un Mundo Para Los Dos” and the biggest hit “Georgy Girl” is rendered as “Georgina.” Besides the Seekers, comparisons can also be made to the Sandpipers and Four Jacks and a Jill. Surprisingly, they cover the Equals’ “Hold Me Closer” under the title of “Escribiendo en Celofan.” I’m curious if the bands ever crossed transatlantic paths. Junior Squad were certainly familiar with the recordings of the Equals as their third album, Baila Muchacha contains a cover of “Baby Come Back” rendered en Espanol as “Baby Ven Ya.” The radiant pop-folk sound on their first album exudes youthfulness and ebullient fun, while expressing an inherent warmth and yearning that goes with their name. They would later go on to shine on their original material as they were on the cusp of a new era atop Sudamerica.

 

1967-Vol. II

Explorations
Their second album Vol. II has them expanding out even more with their cover material along with getting more soulful. They cover a lot of ground from the "Happy Together" follow-up hit of the Turtles (“She’d Rather Be With Me”/"Siempre Para Tí") to the left field twist of taking on “Making Time”/"Conóceme" by the Creation. This is not one of their better efforts as they deliver the freakbeat favorite in somewhat hokey "good-timey" fashion that is further marred by an annoying honking sax that comes off like a bike horn. Their extensive touring of the UK and Europe probably led to becoming aware of the Creation as well as further broadening their horizons. Later, they return to Meeksville to take on “Something I’ve Got To Tell You”/“Algo Quiero Decirte” by the Honeycombs/Glenda Collins and somehow blend the Four Seasons with Os Mutantes. Vol. II  also offers Nestor Ramírez’ soulful slow burner “Ya No Sientes Lo Mismo.”  It appears to be an original and a showcase of his stellar guitar work. The combo continually transitioned with the quickly shifting times, while retaining their recognizable sound, widening their repertoire and recording almost entirely en Español.

L-R Néstor Ramírez (guitar), Fernando Bustamante (drums), Teresa Díaz (vocals), Gilberto Rebolledo (keyboard), Valere Díaz (bass & vocals)

Bubblegum dance moves and kite flying music

Their 3rd album Baila Muchacha places emphasis on dance (as the title indicates) and Motown, while their visual presentation projected the prevailing influence of dada, surrealism and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in South America. Their final album has them returning to be a versatile showband somewhere between early Bee Gees, Bubblegum blasts (e.g. “Sugar, Sugar”/"Dulce, Dulce") and the Spiral Starecase. Teresa and Valere Diaz went on to release a 1972 album on CBS under the name of La Nueva Generación that leans towards the soft & mellow middle-of-the-road. 

1968-Baila Muchacha

1969-Arriba!! con Los Junior Squad

Their cover art not only expresses their sound and phases, but also signals to some things beyond the immediate. All four albums have their moments of surprise and unexpected connections to a wide-array of international ‘60s sounds and influences.  Their debut especially stands out as what other Latin pop act would be directly inspired by the Turtles, the Seekers, the Equals and the shadows of Joe Meek?  Overall, they certainly sound centered in Caracas, yet oriented towards many worlds. 

L-R: Gilberto Rebolledo, Fernando Bustamante, Teresa Díaz, Valere Díaz, Néstor Ramírez

 

Lost Nerve…It’s not a Fake Joke Dumb Band…It’s the Future! (Interview)

The Grand Scheme Despite trying to connect musical dots, I cannot pinpoint this trio’s sound. I can definitely appreciate their straightforward approach, but cannot quite interpret its enigmatic orientation, which makes it all the more alluring. The verses are crammed to the hilt with both quotidian and weighty matters before ascending the heights of stacked choruses. In short, there’s a lot going on under the hood making for a cohesive listening experience.

Rakish Posi-Core!?! At times, the lead vocals remind me of Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators, while the music sounds aligned with the Marked Men. Add in some Rice, Riverboat Gamblers, Chargers Street Gang and even early Epitaph to the aforementioned alliance and what results is an industrial grade alloy of parameter-pushing punk–made to withstand life’s school of hard knocks.

Can we turn the ship around?

The EP’s pièce de résistance is “Busted Seams,” where a searing, but economical guitar solo soars above a low-riding bass chassis that rattles like an alarm clock on an uneven nightstand. The scathing lyrics throughout the EP are sung with anthemic conviction with the words effectively expressing the egalitarian ethos and divergent thought process of punk. The determined lyrics encourage not only a commendable “think for yourself” and DIY approach to life, but ultimately spurs consideration regarding how we treat and support others.

(Responses submitted by Jason Subordinate (JS) - lyrics and vocals; Stiff Mandible (SM) - bass; Theo Dorke (TD) - guitar, drum programming, backing vocals)

This music project seems somewhat shrouded in mystery. Tell us about the origins of Lost Nerve and who was the prime mover behind the formation of this group?

TD: I believe it started right after Stiff and I had released our debut LP from another project that we had recorded and mixed remotely, all on our own, largely during Covid. Jason approached me after asking, if the virtual band dynamic was viable, could we do something together? (We’re all in different parts of the country.) I was absolutely for it and started writing some throwback straight-ahead type songs, which were a fun diversion from the weirdness the other project aspired to. We invited Stiff to join up at some point to add some musical credibility to the endeavor.

How did your past relationships (musical or otherwise) factor in and shape the identity of this EP?

TD: Stiff and I talk about this a lot, that at this stage in our lives, it’s most meaningful and enjoyable to create and play music with friends who we hold dear. I’ve known Jason since high school, and Stiff since first year of college, so the bonds run deep already. Our separate college-days musical acts played shows together, but this coming together from those past connections is new and felt immediately cohesive, like it was waiting to happen, or maybe should have happened a lot earlier! 

SM: I agree with TD on all counts. Making art with friends is one of my favorite things to do, especially when it involves noise and mayhem. And this particular project seemed like a natural evolution of our musical experiences and friendships together.

What are the drawbacks and benefits of being a long-distance recording act?

TD: The obvious drawbacks are that we can’t be in the same room together to jam and collaborate. We can’t gig, or even take a band photo together. Is there a benefit of being structured this way? We as a long-distance “virtual” band benefit from the technology that makes this setup possible. 20 years ago we’d have had to send a 4-track tape through the mail or something, it would have been a lot harder to pull off. This EP was manufactured largely with minimal recording equipment, Dropbox, and a laptop. Maybe the overall benefit is that we do still get to create music together in spite of being separated by great distances, thanks to technology readily available today. 

JS: Yeah, it’s a bummer to not be in the same room recording (or even rehearsing) together. The timespan between “What do you think of this?” and feedback from your collaborators is excruciatingly long. Even after I made TD wait for years before I got my act together, as soon as I sent back recorded vocals, I couldn’t stand waiting to hear what he thought. Still, like TD said, none of this would have been possible without the tech, so we take the bad with the good?  SM: I feel this pain acutely, especially when I’m the one causing it, by usually being the last person to add the necessary overdub to finish the recording phase and move forward with mixdowns. 

 

What are some of the musical inspirations for this release? 

JS: It’s been fascinating hearing folks contextualize Lost Nerve according to what they know. Some of the comparisons are to bands I haven’t listened to in decades, but they’re all valid. I told TD I just wanted to make some straightforward rock & roll with him, and he obliged with early guitar and drum tracks that got us off and running. As for inspiration, my pedestrian tastes lean toward catchy punk rock and hardcore. (I cut my teeth on the Lookout! Records catalog and mid-nineties Midwest hardcore.) I can’t speak for them, but my impression is that both TD and Stiff draw from more diverse interests and tastes. The end result is something that’s uniquely Lost Nerve!

SM: This whole project was refreshing and fun, compared to my usual trying-to-make-things-too-weird approach. 

TD: When I started writing these songs, there was no notion of, “we want it to sound like this or that,” compared to some other projects that definitely have that focus. It was more about just cutting loose and seeing what came out. I initially thought the riff in “In The Stars” felt like a nod to “Cherrybomb” by the Runaways, but that is as close to an association as I’ve been able to make. Like the boys have stated, it’s interesting to see the connections others have drawn, most have been unexpected and surprising.

I detect some Art Chantry influence in your visual presentation. Would you like to elaborate further on the graphics?

TD: I’m absolutely a big fan of the Chantry aesthetic. I’ve got a couple of his books and a stack of records he did the cover designs for. It felt like an appropriate vibe to nod to when designing the cover for the EP, given that musically maybe we harken to that throwback '80s or '90s raw punk sound. I wanted the art to feel like it would sit alongside other records from that era, with the (yes, Chantry-esque) DIY pasted together and photocopied production process. As far as the image goes, the Hulk has been a favorite comic book character for me since childhood, so using the image of Bixby/Banner from the old TV show, losing his cool (losing his nerve?) and about to Hulk out, was appealing. 

What kind of gear and effects do you use to achieve the particular guitar tones that go from gnarly growl to a full-on swarm of bees?

TD: Given that some guitar parts were recorded maybe months or a year apart, the setups changed a lot throughout the process, switching amps and pedals. I’m not really a gearhead, so it was basically whatever worked alright at the time. For distortion, I’m sure I used RAT, as well as definitely favoring a budget Klon clone pedal, the Mosky Silver Horse. Probably applied some in-GarageBand effects as well during mixing. Same guitar on everything, though… the Crestline Les Paul ('70s Japan-made, lawsuit-era knockoff) that I got at a South Bend pawn shop in the '90s. SM: I play my standby 1990 American Fender Jazz Bass. I also have a 2003 Rick 4003 bass that I sometimes use (it’s sentimental), but for Lost Nerve it was all Jazz Bass.  I used only the Tech 21 DP-3X Dug Pinnick SansAmp Distortion pedal as a preamp directly into the recording interface, using GarageBand to record.

Is the reference to the “Wave! The! White! Flag!” in the song “White Flag” alluding to ceasefire or surrender? JS: It’s definitely about surrender. “White Flag” is a response to the kind of mentality that led to the January 6 insurrection. Honestly, three out of the five tracks on this first EP are a reaction to the socio-political environment we’re all living in right now. “You walk real tall in a world so small” speaks to the outsized confidence we saw (and frankly, continue to see) from people whose worldview is incredibly narrow. I’ll admit, I even had a narrow worldview heading into the election, and I had to reflect on these songs after we saw how the election went. It was dispiriting, for sure, but I think there’s still validity and hope in these lyrics. “Not Down, Not Out” reminds us that our fight for human dignity—that we’re far better when we’re taking care of one another—is timeless.  “It’s Our Turn” can be read as a nod to the Harris campaign and the hope I felt in the idea that we might finally be ready as a nation to elect a woman of color as our president. It’s a call to action and commentary on how the political pendulum swings throughout history and how it is our turn to seize the narrative. Of all the songs on this album, this one stings the most for me after the election, but I also see it as a reminder that we can enact change daily, be it in our homes, at our jobs, or in our communities.   

…

Do you wish to disclose some of the obstacles that had to be overcome to make this release possible? Any lessons learned or insights gained you would like to share?

JS: I’ll take this one, since I was a multi-year bottleneck for us getting this across the finish line. I was envious of all the fun TD was having with his other bands, and since he and I never had a chance to play together back in the day, I said we should do something together. TD was on board right away, and by the time we decided on Lost Nerve for the name, he had written a bunch of songs for me to write lyrics to. It took me forever to get in the right headspace to write lyrics, and I probably wrote lyrics for all of these songs three times before landing on what we recorded. I honestly couldn’t get out of my head and lacked the confidence to just go with it. I think part of it has to do with how social media has really messed with our perspectives. I heard a journalist talking recently about how he was always thinking about how the internet was going to respond to what he wrote—which is a terrible position from which to create media of any kind. Anyway, TD was so supportive and gave me the space to finally get where we landed. We also committed to each other that we were going to finally get something recorded the year he and I both turned 50, so the ticking clock helped light a fire under me. 

 

Any plans to play live? If so and as an Austin-based band, would the group consider playing at SXSW?

TD: I’m the only one based in Austin. In truth we are an Austin/Toledo/DC-area outfit, collectively. No immediate plans to play live, SXSW or otherwise. It’d be great, though, to converge somewhere, sometime in the future, to rock these songs out on stage together. 

JS: Yeah, I remembered pretty quickly how much playing live was a part of what I loved about being in a band back in the day. Even practice was a chance to let it rip. It’s not the same when your audience is a laptop, that’s for sure. From my perspective, I’ll have my flight scheduled and bags packed before either TD or Stiff finished asking if we want to play a show. 

SM: Yes, we are playing a live show, somewhere, in 2025. right, guys?

What’s in store for 2025 and beyond?

JS: As soon as we were done with these five songs, I was ready to write more immediately. As the one who has no musical talent, though, I’m happy to sit tight until the fellas are ready to write some more songs (LOL). 

TD: Stiff and I both have other musical endeavors competing for our time, the one together (i.e., Lumberer), and others beyond (go listen to Stiff’s band Czonka, it’s crazy awesome). It’s just carving the time in everyone’s creative schedules, outside of work and family obligations. The rough demos for the first EP happened pretty quickly though, with the riffs for the songs coming rapidly in a burst of inspiration. Could be another batch will churn out in the same way. We definitely have designs set on making more music together. 

SM: As I mentioned earlier, all I want to do is make art with friends whenever possible, so I’m on board with the next Lost Nerve release. Might just take a little while. 

What's the end game for Lost Nerve-if there is one?

TD: Probably the greatest thing about this collaboration is that it keeps us connected. Even if we’re not talking band stuff, we’re still clowning around on the band group chat about some such or other, or lamenting whatever is going on in the world or our daily lives. So the end game is the hope that this continues on in perpetuity, create music periodically as life permits, but stay close with each other throughout, in spite of geographic separation.