Gha-Ngha Records, Mexico
Rating: 83
By Carlos Reyes
The One The Two The Three or one of those calculated sequences where art and science meet is a three-piece EP from Laboratories, a revealing electro act from Juarez, Mexico. Earlier this year the Mexican collective/shop Hupop released a compilation titled Recomienda Vol.1 where they included some very interesting emerging bands including Vicente Gayo and Duzna, nothing as compelling as the computerized and commanding world crafted by Laboratories. The concept: a persecution of space and time, or as better put in one of the album’s comic frames, “the sonic display and interpretation of human realities is quintessential entertainment upon the senses and subsequently the mind.”
Don’t get too serious by the premise or their name, this is fortunately not a sophisticated realm of scientists approaching new media but a disoriented fun experience by some kids “us kids we going crazy / us kids we born crazy.” The band allocates every single resource and distributes its scope in group-like anthems; this is clearly not the work of a single author but a collaborative shared vision in retro-leaning habitat. Laboratories set up some missions to resolve, some concern humanity and the future, but having fun it’s ultimately their priority.
There are so many words in each of the three songs that they become difficult to process, luckily they have included the lyrics in the file’s download. “The Scene Kids” is greatly choreographed, and actually, it sounds like they’re raping the words and letting the music carry the wavelengths. They deliver great lines with continuous phrasing such as “I’ll inhale the plant, the mystics of the soil, the land, the world, ninety-nine lives / Past, present, and future wives, an eternal high…” they’re as mystical as any of the songs from the critically acclaimed Ayrton Senna EP by Delorean. In the surface of “The Love” (Physical) it almost seems like they’re letting go some of their concept, they don’t, they’re just juxtaposing a one night stand as one of their missions, to “focus on the physical love” as a need and forget about the feeling.
“The Battles of us Fools” is a furious gala of colors and radiant machinery, guided by mind-blowing lyricism on the verge of detonating its political frustration. Laboratories host the most amazing party here, with lasers flying around clashing handclaps, drums, it is chaos and it is beautiful. I can only wish there were more tracks in here and perhaps some of them in Spanish (it would be nice); EPs with only three tracks are a hesitation when it comes to rating them, but along with The One The Two The Three this folder contains some awesome extras that would make an awesome booklet, including an action comic titled Refugees that rounds up the music perfectly, so there you go, this is an awesome treat.
