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Garotas Suecas: Feras Míticas

Acid jazz was there before, but now it takes over.
Garotas Suecas
Feras Míticas
Vampisoul
2014-05-13

The tropicalismo rock guitars from the São Paulo group’s 2010 debut LP have been pushed aside on this new release and the almost-falsetto-voiced samba-soul has flowed over them softly and overwhelmingly on a river of viola. Acid jazz was there before, but now it takes over. Resting on that cushiony upholstery the band searches for more relaxation and a defensively whimsical brand of freedom.

“Me and my friends we’re fixing / a whole new place where you can hide,” sings Guilherme Sal on “New Country”. “We got washing machines and drum machines / and machine guns.” Most of the album is naturally in Portuguese, but Sal’s English-language lyrics surprised me sometimes with their associative leaps. Tomaz Paoliello is more direct. “I’m not gonna do what people want me to.” (“Roots are for Trees”.) So, still somewhat prickly.

RATING 5 / 10