Photo supplied by the artist

By: Aidan Morris

Juventud has always been an act that I have been enthralled by: their vision, attitude, and most importantly vibe. Their sound perfectly encapsulates the ennui of late capitalism, while simultaneously appealing to a shared sense of nostalgia. The title of the EP “Remembrance of Things Past In Search of Lost Time” shares a translated title with the monumental novel “À la recherche du temps perdu” by 20th-century French author Marcel Proust. For those unfamiliar, the novel recounts Marcel’s own life through involuntary recollections as an allegorical search for truth. In Proust’s novel, the narrator is in a race against his death to select, fuse, and transmute memories to reveal an underlying truth, a project that is fundamentally divorced from the real events captured in these memories. 

“Remembrance of Things Past In Search of Lost Time” relies heavily on this theme of selective memory, self-reflection, and overcommitment to solely relying on your version of things. For my bilingual readers, sentiment is captured succinctly in the French expression “madeleine de Proust”, which refers to feelings or sensations which remind you of your childhood or bring back emotional memories from a long time ago. Nostalgia is core to the band as a whole, with the band’s name Juventud (pronounced You-Ven-Tood) being the Spanish word for youth. 

The project was recorded last summer in a retreat to a home studio near Fitzroy Provincial Park with friend Rheal Doucette. Separated from metropolitan civilization, Juventud seized the opportunity to make a record oozing with personality and strong musicianship. You can sense that everyone involved put their hearts into this, with great performances from Filipe Godoy Diaz on guitar, vocals and synth, Andy MacDonald on lead guitar, Jorge Moreno on bass, and Carter Champagne on drums. Produced by Rob Velluso and mastered by Stefan Jurewicz, Juventud has cemented their signature jangly and heavy vibe sound with this project. 

This theme of twisting memories towards the construction of a narrative, which is ultimately separated from reality, is beautifully conveyed. Woven throughout, Juventud’s modern retelling includes a toxic situationship, rife with selective memory. Reality has been completely altered for both parties. They are trapped in a seemingly never-ending back-and-forth, calling just to hang up, melodramatic proclamations of love and holding onto pretend versions of shared experiences. From the narrator’s perspective, it seems as though they are in the right, longing for the times which he remembers, and is simply a victim of the others’ toxicity. Informed by the theme of selective memory reveals the all-too-familiar miscommunication and willful villainization. For me, it evokes memories that I’d rather forget about my failed relationships. Perhaps I am also no stranger to picking and choosing what I’d like to remember. Filipe’s vocal delivery, Andy’s mellow guitar solos, and surfy groove pair beautifully with the lyrical theme emphasizing that this story of misremembering is being told with rose-tinted glasses; that even though the relationship was horrible, it’s remembered as not being that bad. 

There are some fun samples present on the album, including some nostalgic KidPix sound effects, a CKCU DJ mispronouncing Juventud’s name followed by Chilean president Salvador Allende correctly pronouncing Juventud during his last address before his suicide/assassination during the 1973 Chilean coup d’etat.

While grappling with this unstable relationship, the narrator’s misremembering of memories escalates to full-blown depersonalization and derealization. Asking the age-old question, if one is caught selectively misremembering their past, how can one be comfortable with their identity and trust their perception? Further complicating the question is the modern condition of serotonin-sucking internet addiction and artificial social media identities, which is also referenced throughout the EP. Filipe explained to me that the song “Mark Zuckerburg is Ruining My Life” parodies our digital reality, in which the first verse is written from the perspective of the narrator cyber creeping someone, and the second verse is written from the perspective of Mark Zuckerburg cyber creeping the narrator – a truly horrifying thought experiment. Existential dread and modern malaise are consuming the narrator, while he is trying his best to hold onto the meaningful sentimentality of better days. These inescapable feelings are ones which I am sure can be empathized with by many readers/listeners. I’d recommend you give this a listen if you resonate with this feeling, or if you’re in the mood for vibey-jams to help you reflect on what really happened back in your youth.

You can catch a performance of the EP in full at the release party on March 2, 2024, at The Rainbow Bistro, with Stoby, Maybury, and Motherland.

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