Antioquia - Viajero

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Antioquia – Viajero
2012, Antioquia

Once in a while, something truly original comes along.  San Francisco-based art rockers Antioquiabring a unique sound, dubbed “Afro-Colombian Psychedelic Lovefunk” on theirthird album, Viajero.  Touring throughout the U.S. over the pastfour years, Antioquia has become a fan and festival favorite.  While staying mainly below the radar of commercialradio, Antioquia makes some of the most infectiously danceable rock and rollout there. Comparisons have been made to Fela, Pere Ubu and the Talking Heads,but the sound mix on Viajero is more of a blend of Was (Not Was), Rusted Rootand the B-52’s.

Viajero isingeniously constructed, with rock, ska and pop numbers woven in and aroundoccasional segues into drum circles. Throughout much of the album there is a sense that Antioquia is constantlyon the edge between genius and epic fail. The sound is a bit messy at times; the instrumentation is nottraditional rock and roll, and the band takes a lot of chances.  Luckily they are up to the challenge, and thecascade of small successes here becomes thrilling to the listener.  The psychedelic space/punk opening song “Idaho”sets the tone, done in a scatter-art style with co-vocals that almost alwaysentirely fail to be exactly in unison. The energy and commitment of the band make this work better than perhapsit should.  “Attack Of The Killer Balafon”is an ironic little instrumental featuring the named subject surrounds bysnarky electric guitar accents. Instrumental humor is often subtle and hard to miss; not so here.

The edges get a bit rougher on “Sister”, marrying a nasty butsubdued guitar lick, open percussion and aggressive female vocals with a heavydose of feminism.  The artsy folk/punkstyle here is messy yet sonically appealing. “Who That Be?” is one of those moments where you’ll be certain the wheelsare about to come off the bus, but Antioquia survives the experienceunscathed.  “Steamship Enterprise” is anambitious art-rock exploration that builds from a basely repetitive openinginto an expansive turn.  Antioquia getsan A for effort here, but there’s no payoff to the vision here.

Funky, messy and fun aptly describes “Mountains”, whichsounds like it should have been a Don Was/Fred Schneider collaboration.  The drum circle comes alive on “No Sleep Til Oakland”and none too soon.  This song starts outas an unimaginative number, but is saved by the rhythmic transition.  It’s almost as if the band, recording live,realized the song itself wasn’t working and decided to simply druminstead.  “Rage Of Love” is a bit moreexperimental, starting out as a meandering number but growing into an expansivemellow rocker with progressive inclinations. As stylistically unsettled as the number is, it works in the milieu thatAntioquia has built here. 

“Dibon” is a brief drumming interlude that transitions intothe catchy, angular pop of “Donde Quiero”. Balafon, electric guitar and percussion drive this along, with lyrics inboth English and Spanish.  RachelAntony-Levin takes the vocals here, with a voice running the gamut from ToriAmos to Pat Benetar.  The song muscles upinto a heavier rock sound before taking its leave.  Whimsical ska-pop is the order of the day on “There’sA Man Jumping Off The Planet”.  Thisentertaining little number devolves into a messy jumble of instruments andmusical ideas at the end, but it’s a fun trip. Interestingly enough, this is also the most polished song on the album;and might have some real potential as a single. 

Antioquia returns to the drum circle on last time for “Kassa– Nisoro”, before stepping out with a thoroughly asymmetric closer in “Back ToThe Mountains”.  This is perhaps the onlytrue misstep on the album.  This live, in-studiorecording is messy and unpolished; and it’s very apparent that Antioquia washaving a blast doing it, but it simply does not sound very good.  Put at the end of an envelope that pushes theenvelope artistically and musically, “Back To The Mountains” is reallysomething of a letdown.  It’s anunfortunate choice for the last thing a first time listener will hear, as itdoesn’t leave the best impression of the band.

Antioquia’s let it all hang out attitude is one of thebiggest driving forces behind the success of Viajero.  As with all greattraits, it has the potential to be their undoing on occasion as well.  On balance, however, Viajero flirts with brilliance throughout, dancing on the edge offailure and success where magic sometimes happens.  The blend of sounds and styles here isunique, and the slightly unpolished sound on Viajero means the experience have here will be much closer to whatyou’ll hear live.  It’s hard not to likeAntioquia.

Rating: 4 Stars (Outof 5)

Learn more at www.antioquia-band.com. Viajero is available digitally from Bandcamp.