Julia and the Bazooka
“JATB ep"
Reviewed January 28, 2025
Bombastic power pop that keeps familiar tropes at an arm’s length.
Most contemporary music mining the 90s for inspiration finds it either in the successfully commercialized angst of the Seattle sound or the saturated and pummeling soundscapes of Midwestern bands. Julia and the Bazooka, a slightly embellished solo project from East Patchogue, New York, seems to carve their inspiration from a different cavity of the 90s alt scene: one in which joy drove the dynamics and pop instincts dictated the structure, yet remains firmly outside of the mainstream – think less Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins and more Tripping Daisy.
Their two-songs-plus-a-cover EP JATB is really a one-two punch of bouncy, energetic power pop that uses radio-friendly tools to build a peculiar and cleverly devious sound. The buzzy guitars and massive, pounding power chords would sound at home on a Blink 182 album, but the jittery, rhythmic chord progressions of the verses suggest a whiff of early aughts dance-punk like Franz Ferdinand. But over this familiar pastiche, the vocals weave a stream-of-consciousness melody like Kurt Vile improving karaoke. The sparse backing vocals from the solo-project’s other contributor adds a tasteful amount of asymmetry, further complicating what might otherwise sound reductive. With this mix of influences and elements overlapping in such a unique way, it’s an arresting and enjoyable listen.
While both of the original songs employ the tactics listed above in equal measure, “Give Us the Chills” travels further afield and visits some truly unexpected places. A full on punk bridge gives way to a tender and time-signature-shifting coda that underscores the intentionality behind Julia and the Bazooka’s decisions.
At times the ultra-compressed guitars and the steady-as-she-goes drumming beg for a little more nuance, but the overall product here is one of jovial experimentation within a winning formula.
