Monotract - Trueno Obscuro
LOAD Records may have a diverse, varied, and eclectic roster, but few bands on its list have the practical experience of Monotract. A long-running progressive rock/art/noise trio, Monotract is one of those rare acts seemingly one step ahead of the curve; every time some group of lesser peers tries to copy them, something like this year's Trueno Obscuro comes out and totally leaves all the imitators in the dust. Loud, trippy, enthralling, scary, and whimsical, Trueno Obscuro is one of those rare albums hovering between realms of child-like innocence and murderous intent frighteningly real in their possibility.
The opening buzz of "Muddy Thunder" will probably fool people into thinking this is a (and wow, this is going to sound ironic) conventional LOAD Records release, but thankfully it is not. An almost Latin sense of rhythm exudes from the mix, and before we know it the band has crafted a winding monster of pounding, organic noise. As this raucous beast shimmies and sways, skinsman Roger Rimada alternates between random patches of outright blasting to equally furious yet much slower, more hypnotic fare. Just as you think the song will swirl its way to a messy, chaotic close, an uplifting groove riff appears and lets frontwoman Nancy Garcia exercise her spunky, wailing vocals. It makes for some very energetic fare, and listeners won't see what's coming next.
"Under My Arm" is a shockingly surreal post-rock ballad that could have been penned by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Everything drifts in sort of a crystalline haze, and the song has this delicate hum to it that makes the atmosphere both moody and unnerving. I'd describe it as a mixture of creepy paranoia and beautiful passion, quite the combo indeed. At complete odds to this mood stands the following track, "The Ballad of Lechon." "Lechon" is upbeat and catchy, a fiery yet rambling jaunt through life. The vocals are transparent and detached, drifting aimlessly through a void of subtle, rhythmic acrobatics and plenty of hyper guitar abuse. The perfect mix of thundering aplomb and catchy rhythm, the song's eerie breakdown will leave you pleasantly numb, only to build itself into one last Earth-shaking conclusion.
"Big N" emerges from this rubble with a defiant drum pattern, the likes of which slinks like a massive snake made out of Lego-blocks. Stepping out from this waving tangle of bangs comes Garcia's sultry sing-songs, the likes of which manage to be inviting and sinister at the same time....the songs eventual devolution into a warble of manic static proves in my mind the eventual outcome. "Cafu y Kaka" is next on the chopping block, and the song's funky, boisterous bounce kicks things off with an explosive start. Come to think of it, things never really wind down and "Kaka" is a roaring, breathless fusion-rock adrenaline rush.
The menacing caress of "Red Tide" and its early hum/guitar wank meshing should sooth things a bit. Monotract deftly lets loose a minimal, stripped-down, and off-kilter ballad which wistfully ambles in-and-out of blistering distortion and back again. Like a wanderer suddenly overlooking a vast cliff, the song builds itself into a soft cushion of tickling fuzz only to plunge over the precipice and back into one last rendition of the soaring chorus. The irony of this band becomes readily apparent at this point, their mix of unusual weirdness still being forced to corroborate with conventional verse/chorus/verse structures. I'll be damned if it doesn't work, and this is one of the stronger LOAD releases I've gotten in ages. The plodding quasi-doom of fuzzed-out rocker "Mar Rojo" builds up like a quickly-erupting volcano, exploding in a flash of fiery light and brutal intensity. Put into context, it makes a wild close for an equally jarring album, and a good one at that!
Trueno Obscuro wraps the best aspects of not only LOAD Records but independent, underground, and avant-garde rock in general. Mixing hooks oddly crafted from jarring noise, legitimate musical chops, and a daring sense that music has plenty of black fog left to be explored, Trueno Obscuro will hopefully be the first of many strong releases from these guys on LOAD in the years to come. With Monotract recently representing LOAD on their SXSW showcase, and the band's frequent involvement in booking the No Fun Fest (a noise festival that runs annually), it appears someone somewhere has noticed the potential. Here's hoping they run with it. Monotract's Trueno Obscuro
1. Muddy Thunder
2. Under My Arm
3. The Ballad of Lechon
4. Big N
5. Cafu y Kaka
6. Red Tide
7. Mar Rojo
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