Bam Bam - Arre Krishna

Arre Krishna, Bam Bam
Arts & Crafts, México
Rating: 81
by Pierre Lestruhaut

There’s no point in delaying the aggrandizing statements Bam Bam are worthy of: their second full-length Futura Vía is still the best Latin rock album (not made in Chile) we’ve come across this decade so far. A little over two years after its release, the record still holds up incredibly well as both a solid collection of tunes (not a month goes by without the need to occasionally spin amazing tracks like “Ragatrón” or “Abismático”), and, more importantly, as part of the rare breed of albums that can be considered a round success for excelling in concept, structure, and execution. It’s the type of record that’s part of the reason why we still, occasionally, despite the distractions of the internet era, dedicate ourselves exclusively to the experience of listening to music.

Upon first impression, Arre Krishna, Bam Bam’s most recent EP and follow-up to Futura Vía, feels not like the triumphant return of one of our most beloved bands, but more like an overly delayed release of outtakes from the Futura Vía sessions, which, in comparison to Bam Bam’s couple of excellent albums they had released so far, feels rather disappointing. In terms of the average bulk of Latin rock releases we tend to come across, we couldn’t be happier to have new material from the regiomontano quartet. To compare Arre Krishna to its immediate predecessor would be putting it on an uneven playing field and also overlooking how it’s, in its own right, a solid collection of four tunes and an 11-minute psychedelic trip.

There’s been mention of two tracks being part of the Futura Vía sessions,“Tirando pa fuera” and “¡Regocíjate Hermano!,” which are not coincidentally the ones where you’ll hear former band member Luxor singing. “Tirando pa fuera” begins the EP in medias res with a soft laid-back melody but quickly speeds up the tempo and shifts towards beatlesque hooks and melodies. “ROD” is Bam Bam’s catchiest song to date behind “Ragatrón” and also their most populist incarnation with a much traditional hook-oriented slice of '60s psych rock. It’s in “¡Regocíjate Hermano!” where the EP reaches its climactic moment of vitality and urgency and raises the question of why the potentially best song in Futura Vía was left out of it.

Although fitting more experimental ventures with pop tunes in a single release is a rather rare thing to attempt since the advent of punk downplayed the artification of rock, closer “Líjate bien” sees Bam Bam distancing themselves from their trademark pop tunes in a sort of Ravi Shankar and The Beatles meets Neu! and Kraftwerk, as its Middle Eastern psych groove quickly morphs into a kraut motorik beat. It feels rather anachronistic, but works well on a visceral level. Bam Bam doesn’t want you to take their religious and interstellar references too seriously, and “Líjate bien” is aimed at stimulating your gut rather than your brain.

Regardless of whether Arre Krishna will turn out to be an interlude amidst a continuous series of aesthetically similar works or the epilogue closing a period and making room for a new one in the oeuvre of Bam Bam, the EP lives up to both parts well enough. With a mixture of Futura Vía outtakes and brand new songs, including one that sees the band sort of leave their comfort zone, Arre Krishna fulfills its duty of being both a very enjoyable rock record that provides new material for individual track listening and as a “batch of songs that should be preferably listened to in a certain order.” It’s a short record that reminds us how much we can enjoy good rock and roll and its whole spectrum of primitive, urgent, emotional, and left-field forms.

Video: Torreblanca - "Sí"

In this clip for the single "Sí" director Benjamín Estrada attempts to translate the rich soundscapes and theatricality of Bella Época into something visual. We see Torreblanca and crew performing for a young bride on what is presumably her wedding day. Things start off pretty well, the girl is wrapped in some dreamy lens flares (think Beyoncé/Halo taken down a few notches) as she walks down the aisle. Just as the chorus takes off, the drama unfolds: the bride flees and we get some gorgeous black and white (very filmic) exterior shots intercut with all kinds of colorful objects. Most impressive, however, are those artwork-inspired animation bits, adding just the right element to the clip. Sure the photography is all over the place, but if it works in Torreblanca's music, then it definitely also works in this video.

Torreblanca - Bella Época

Bella Época, Torreblanca
Arts & Crafts, México
Rating: 79
by Enrique Coyotzi

With exceptional talent, determination, and passion for creating music that transmits vivid imagery and sensations through finely crafted melodies and precisely chosen words, Torreblanca has rapidly become one of the most imaginative bands in Mexico, delivering highly complex pop music combined with confrontational structures that incorporate a great palette of musical influences like swing, jazz, and alternative rock. Ever since last year’s stupendous Defensa EP, there has been great anticipation surrounding their first proper LP. After craving for months since ferocious first single “Lobo” was released, Torreblanca’s first full-length, Bella Época, is a captivating work crafted by a five-piece of distinguished musicians that, under the direction of visionary leader Juan Manuel Torreblanca, have created a record whose compositions, with a certain level of obscurity and irony, remind us of past eras that appear to be distant, comfy, and sometimes scarily violent.

Blissful opener “Las Horas” is the perfect example of how connected the band is now. The song starts with Torreblanca’s soft hypnotic piano playing that gets more dynamic, while Andrea Balency softly captivates with her accordion entrance. Alejandro Balderas intensely erupts with saxophone energy, then Carlos Zavala and Jerson Vázquez, with bass and drums, both smoothly adapt. In the first seconds of this song we appreciate a top-notch quintet that have found harmony and the virtue of sounding like a solid group where each of its members contribute and stand out. While Torreblanca is the author, the one who sculpts the backbone of these songs, it’s evident how the band members have gotten to know each other and have contributed more directly in aspects of arrangement, execution, and development of the pieces, never losing the essence of the original sketches. Under the assistance of Café Tacvba’s Quique Rangel, the group finally sounds like a complete ensemble, as every single instrument employed in the mix shimmers. While Rangel is not as bold a producer as his bandmate Meme, utilizing a more conservative and grainy, not so risky production, this kind of retro conservative approach works with the theme of the album, which also recalls vintage appreciation based on the record’s artwork: old photographs and warm nostalgia through cursive lyrics on the booklet (written by Torreblanca’s grandmother), conducting us to momentums that feel surprisingly like home.

Torreblanca has one of the most divisive voices, and many people I know will reject his voice almost immediately just for how unconventional it is. Truth is, in the great tradition of unique vocalists like Björk, Rubén Albarrán, or Tom Waits, Torreblanca belongs to that group of edgy, one-of-a-kind voices that may be be so uncommon, so different, audiences will dismiss it without allowing many chances to decipher its real beauty and the intense emotions he proportions throughout, establishing himself as a daring singer in the current indie panorama. The vocalist also possesses a fascinating capacity of painting different characters in each of his tracks, as well as adopting their personalities through the striking vocal interpretation and versatility he gives to every number. He also has a facility of creating situations that are kind of cryptic (“Hueco” and “Lola en el Sillón”). Some of the themes are completely relatable for almost any public (“Si” and “Roma”), still, the words employed invite the listener to personally interpret the meaning of the message and create hypothesis with the richness of the writings. “Dejé de Ser Yo” is a tale of a gentleman that loses his reason after meeting a courtesan. It’s impressive how Torreblanca picturesquely delineates characters, such as the woman with a “cinturita de reloj de arena” – a rich employment of language that sharply draws detailed contexts about lasciviousness and desire.

On the other hand, more straightforward songs don’t get too complicated and simply hook with the universality of their message, like in “Roma,” colored by delicious brass sections – easily the quintet’s most joyous tune, one that you’d long to dedicate at one time in your life. “Lodo” is a bitter realization about getting old while still living in a puberty mindset, with the track's choruses resembling Café Tacvba's golden age. “Otra Decepción” surpasses the demo version with its cathartic declaration of “¡no voy a dar lugar a otra decepción!” And, though the strong presence of flute after the first chorus is missed, Balency’s accordion is a fine replacement. For a record titled Bella Época, whose title may or may not be ironically related to Mexico’s current violent landscape, “JB” is a completely depressing, low-key conclusion that flirts with PJ Harvey’s To Bring You My Love era. To me, it is the voice of the omnipresent nature manifested by vulnerable areas, hinting at the destructive power that’s inherent in them. Featuring an engrossing collection of inventive songs, including multiple highlights, Bella Época is a wonderful achievement that’s not precisely groundbreaking, yet it’s a mesmerizingly composed LP that exudes delightful quality and provides extraordinary touching feelings throughout its assorted stories from beginning to end, condensing Torreblanca as an atypical band in matters of unusual confection, obtaining bewildering results. Despite minor production flaws, Bella Época is a record that reflects its concept ambitiously, offers unconventional creations, and manifests the loving labor that went into it.

Video: Bam Bam - "Ragatrón"

The Phoenix Zoo would be very boring without its giant desert turtles or its fluorescent dark room (it's so fun I dress for the ocassion); needless to say I understand Bam Bam's great choice of fluorescent coating in their latest video. Less psychedelic and more on the pop side, the band constructed a sort of ultraviolet room to self-direct the images for "Ragatrón", one of the best rock songs of the year. Although this visual medium leaves very little room for subsequent creation, they did a stellar job embedding themselves to the walls and highlighting their instruments. Also, bonus points for the popping eyes and the planetary references. The band, who is set to perform at this year's Vive Latino is also presenting their new formation, as former members Meme & Luxor are no longer part of the band. Bam Bam's anticipated album Futura Vía drops on March 29th through Arts & Crafts MX.

Via Reclueless

Video: Chikita Violenta - "Roni"

Pablo Davila helms Chikita Violenta’s glowing and creepy new video “Roni”, the latest single off their album TRE3S. The video starts with a sort of horrific setting in the woods of Desierto de Los Leones, where the band is ready to shoot their video. There’s plenty of sunlight, but it gets cloudy right away with the appearance of an aggressive old dude who demands to see a film-shooting permit. The guys try to get away with it justifying it’s for academic-purposes (we’ve all been there), but he is of course, not buying it. The clip goes on to unexpected turns, exploiting much of its platforms with plenty of genius. Half of the footage has the Harmony Korine docu-drama motifs, while the other half, is like a visceral (and splendidly shot) sequence of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives. It's gorgeous inside out, with a great commentary of the monstrous fear towards the camera, and the unpredictability of its subjects. Bravo.

Featured: Bam Bam - "Ragatrón"

Feature: Bam Bam - "Ragatrón"

Arts & Crafts Mexico

Bam Bam is perhaps, the most lauded and best critically-perceived band hailing from the Nene Records catalog. It was once Monterrey’s best-kept secret, but the band is on its way to conquer a broader audience now that they’re signed under Arts & Crafts (Mexico). Early in 2008, the band released its first self-titled record, which we described as “a consequence of pop music’s transcoding into scattered rock, one that breathes youth and exhales a virtuous shrewd of instrumental & lyrical skill.” This was the moment we recognized the Bam Bam as one of Mexico’s true new great bands. Bam Bam’s landscape-defying rock surprised us and moved us. It also came to reaffirm our skepticism towards other crowd-pleasing Mexican bands (Zoe, Bengala, etc), who despite making honest efforts, were simply not very stimulating.

“Ragatrón” is the leading single off their new record Futura Vía, produced by Bam Bam’s Mou & Martin Thulin. It only takes a second into the song to feel you’re being lifted to a higher ground; it’s a whimsical dance-battle among light, instruments, and electronic swarms. The soundscape in “Ragatrón” is as packed as our galaxy, yet it gravitates with ease among the gas dust, cosmic rays, and all that stellar matter surrounding intergalactic space. And you get to this setting just with the instrumental core. The lyrics narrate a beautiful story; ‘Ragatron’ seems to be the name of a very kind galactic creature/force who invites a ‘lost dreamer’ into a life-changing journey. The time-jumping adventure makes him experience space, glimpse the great extinction (of Dinasours? Humans?), and tells him he is not lost: “no estas perdido, eres lo que falta en la ecuación.”

Los Odio!, Los Odio!

LOS ODIO! LOS ODIO!
Arts & Crafts, Mexico
Rating: 49
By Carlos Reyes

Los Odio! is the latest all-star ensemble composed by Paco Huidobro (Fobia), Quique Rangel (Café Tacvba), Jay de la Cueva (Moderatto) and Tito Fuentes (Molotov). First let’s mention that this is the first local release from Arts & Crafts Mexico, a very smart move from a really good label. Los Odio! will hardly breakthrough its border, so it’s highly unlikely to get a broad international run. The band sounds nothing like the current indierock scene which is totally fine, except that just like Los Concorde, this is very disappointing (and you can tell I really wanted to like it).

First, let me say I like the bands they play in (yes, even Moderatto), but while this band might reunite their backgrounds it doesn’t add up to much musically. They lack personality, signature, a distinctive sound and better stories to tell. Not to say they’re not talented, they actually get the individual execution part right, but everything else feels disjointed and just patchy. “Pelos en el Mouse” stands out right away, it’s undeveloped but funny and over the top (as it should be). It’s hilarious actually, while writing this the song shouts “que tú no eres quien, tú no puedes criticarme, tienes pelos en el mouse también.” It’s that juicy character that’s missing on the rest album, most songs sound like a lazy Fobia or a Moderatto without makeup.

It’s hard to depart their origins when the new band lacks an identity. “Cruda de amor” almost gets it right, an anthem-like almost grunge tune about a hangover, a physical state where even cumbias and mariachis are harmful. Other songs go from funky (“Superpompis”) to wacky (“Odio”), while they can provoke some head shakes and toe-tapping moments, they’re just too quick to grab them. The fact that “Disculpa Nena, Yo No Soy Un Hippie” ages from birth-to-death as one listens to it tells how transcendent it is. If anything, they do throw in a great one liner “yo soy el unico pendejo que te cre.” Los Odio! is ultimately an album run and rushed by attitude rather than musical essence.

MySpace