On the cover of their fifth album [Another Chance To Succeed In Life], the trio of guitarist Eblis Alvarez, bassist Mario Galeano, and drummer Pedro Ojeda, gaze upwards in unison as though they were three heads on a single body, an illusion created by an over exposure of light against the white shirts each wears. It’s a great cover, and an apt image for music created by three long-time friends who met while at school in Bogotá, Colombia, entirely from improvised sessions, that also carries a pleasing, though perhaps slightly misleading, 1960s obscure psych nugget vibe. For although this is psychedelic music in some respects, it contains too many reflections of other sounds and styles to be qualified by any one genre or era.
The label claims this is the first time that the trio’s live methodology, with Alvarez feeding his electric guitar through a laptop, layering circular loops to build dense arrangements knit together with Galeano’s nurturing bass and propelled by Ojeda’s incredibly kinetic drumming, has been adequately captured in a studio recording. Whilst in truth their previous releases have all been excellent, particularly 2021s Infame Golpazo En Keroxen (a ‘greatest hits’ selection with an added brass section recorded in a disused kerosene tank), Una Oportunidad does feel like their most successful attempt in locating the sweet spots between the joy of the groove and such a broad sweep of other subtle musical inflections that at times it’s like gazing into a constantly evolving sonic kaleidoscope.
Opener ‘El Nuevo Prometeo’ fleetingly recalls the math rock of Don Caballero, but of a gentler, more instinctive kind, before heading for more ecstatic altitudes. ‘Despectiva Caridad’ slows the pace to a subtly beautiful tune recalling an easy summer afternoon in the manner of the Minutemen changing down gear to ‘Corona’, but adds a dub-like quality, with Alvarez’ guitar echoing gorgeously off into the ether. Surf rock rubs up against traditional Colombian cumbia, Latin American rhythms, West African highlife. Post rock, wonky Beefheartian beats, the single-minded trance repetition of Konono Nº1, ska, calypso and jazz inflections all appear before being dissolved in the indomitable forward current of their music. Whilst I, as a listener with my own reference points, can glean all of these influences in this wonderfully fluid music, it’s unlikely that the trio have consciously placed them there, and entirely more probable that they appear briefly and mirage-like due to their so extensively exploring the possibilities of their guitar, drums and bass configuration. Whatever labels one might care to throw it at, this is unique music capable of reflecting many moods but driven primarily by a sense of irresistible forward movement that celebrates life at its most joyous. As winter begins to shade into spring, Another Chance To Succeed In Life might be just what we all need.
Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida is out this week
