The Animeros
¡Qué Bárbaro!
**** out of *****
The debut full length from the Austin, TX based trio, The Animeros is the hot ¡Qué Bárbaro! The record mixes in some garage rock and psychedelic flair to the groups core cumbia sound.
The trio of Mauro Alberto Lopez (guitar), Nicolas Sánchez Castro (bass), and Nick Tozzo (drums, congas, bongos, cowbell, and guiro) were in their infancy when Dan Auerbach took notice, signing them to his Easy Eye Sound label. The band headed to Nashville to record as Auerbach produced with some additional musicians, Mike Rojas (keys, accordion and more) Mike Haynes (trumpet) and Matt Combs (strings) helping flush things out.
Opening with "Gózalo" the rich bass, horn hits and key runs open the ears to the cumbia before a distorted guitar enters and the tempo kicks up to a frantic pace to close the exhilarating tune. "Terlingua" would have been right at home in a Sergio Leone film while both the cool grooving title track and the rugged "La Camita" display a Santana influence.
The album is designed to put asses on the dance floor with red hot instrumentals custom made to get the crowd up and moving. "Descarga Royal" is dynamite pumping number with excellent upbeat percussion, guitar playing and organ work, "El Caminante" snakes gloriously with added shouts of "Hey!" and "Danza de Los Saguaros" warbles with a head bopping groove, bright keys, sizzling trumpet and a palpable sense of joy.
The slower offerings "Uvas Negras" and album closer "Al Final del Camino" act more as breathers, it is pretty clear the band wants to keep the hips swinging and save the slow dances for another time. The galloping "Cumbia de Magdalena" punches up the drama with top notch horn work from Haynes while "Mamba Mambo" is a highlight offering showcasing Lopez's fierce guitar playing and great key work form Rojas.
The trios more experimental offerings arrive late as "Ponchote de Ritmo" bumps and shimmies with a deep bass groove and ominous lyrics and "Paulo Duro" shimmers with pedal effects on Lopez's guitar and a sense of wonder.
An album that is rooted in the traditional, but never afraid to add some spices to the party mix, ¡Qué Bárbaro! by The Animeros is a confident debut from the Austin trio.
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