Musuji – Rubicon (+)
Similar artists: The Mars Volta, Deftones, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Genre: Stoner Rock, Progressive Rock, Alternative Rock
It’s hard to stage a happening, in general, these days, and much more so when it comes to rock music. What are you going to do to shock people into a stupor? Pull ‘em out of their phones or threaten them with some kind of attack? The element of surprise has nearly been lost across all artistic mediums, and it is up to the most gifted creative people to try to retain it.
Part of that can be done by agreeing to never walk a straight line and avoiding cliches whenever those seem easier to use. Another ingredient is the willingness to work ideas on an audience aggressively. The risk of losing fans forever, or even having them file a complaint with the local authorities, shouldn’t those trying to make a splash.
Musuji’s “Rubicon (+)” promises to be the connection point between At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta, twin Latin rock bands whose ambition halved them and turned band members against themselves. Musuji possesses an attractive commitment toward a kind of chaotic performance art. But they also like funk and progressive rock elements. Yes, they can play, but they enjoy mischiefly defying expectations as well. Keep it up, and Musuji might get picked up by the police, but they don’t seem to care.
Bacará – Cores
Similar artists: Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, The Smashing Pumpkins
Genre: Grunge, Alternative Rock
At the end of the day, regardless of how much financial wealth you may possess, there are only a few things that always make sense and improve life. You can count them on the palm of one hand. There’s music, art, football, food and sex. And Latin American countries seem to instinctively know more about any of those things than any other parts of the world.
This is why it is easy for Latin American entertainers to get lost in cliches. Do rock bands always have to introduce samba in their rhythms or have a lead guitarist that resembles Mexico’s own Carlos Santana? Does food always have to be highly flavoured and clothes dramatically colourful? In fact, Latin Americans often achieve their greatest triumphs when they avoid doing what is expected of them.
It is no secret that Brazilians love global rock as well as their own music. This may be one of the reasons why Bacará’s grunge-influenced “Cores” is presented with such confidence. The band nails its mix of Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age, a murky but dynamic sound. But it’s also the confidence with which they approach this that tells of the world in which they live. Bacará sounds like a band getting ready to play grunge to stadium audiences. That’s the kind of world we’d love to be in as well. Who wouldn’t?
