Serapicos - Serapicos Is A Town

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Serapicos – Serapicos Is A Town
2012, Gabriel SerapicosSan Paolo,Brazil native Gabriel Serapicos claims Portuguese as his native language, butchooses to sing in English to feel more connected to the spirits of rock androll.  This connection is at times rawand comically out of synch at times on his debut album, Serapicos Is A Town, but they playful heart of the album isultimately its redeeming factor.

Serapicosgets things rolling with the message, incessant garage rock of “There Is NoSatisfaction”.  This retro-post-modernanswer to the Rolling Stones is built more from a bemused observationalism thanany real sense of angst or disappointment. You can almost picture the knowing smirk Serapicos is hiding as hesings.  “Blow Me” features the same sortof self-satisfied frat boy smugness and fails to be allegorical in anyway.  It’s an entertaining look into thebarely post-adolescent male mind with quasi 1970’s Lloyd-Webber flair.  The band comes back to Earth with fairlymundane numbers such as “Artists Are Crazy” and the shambling “Pee PeeJazz”.  With “LuckyNumbers”, Serapicos descend into a troubled They Might Be Giants paralleluniverse where bright airy melodies and whimsical story songs have beenreplaced by dark, minor key explorations and Smith’s inspired tales of woe.  Jumping into a sound once used by Jan andDean, Serapicos get completed retro on “Inspire Me”. This fun rocker will getyour feet moving, and the messy garage style of play creates a funenvironment.  Things roll back downhillfor “The Sexiest Girl In The World”. This amounts to a teen boy drooling over a girl in song without anysense of art or tact.  That being said,there is an elemental cuteness to the song. “Balloon” finds Serapicos practicing a bit more tact in their wooingtechniques, but not much.  The vocal isenough to sink this one, as Serapicos has only a passing relationship with thekey.

“The EggSong” is a catchy little piece of post-pop fluff that one presumes isironic.  The song is very entertaining,with a frenetic energy that’s impossible to ignore.  This is one tune where it’s best not to thinktoo much about what you’re listening to. “When Your Husband’s Away” is banal and droning; a difficult listen atbest.  "I Just Want To Be YourFriend" has a Doors style groove, but fails on pedantic and repetitivelyrics. "Love Pills" and "Russian Roulettes and PersianCarpets" are equally mundane, although the latter captures a bit of thatThey Might Be Giants air found earlier on the album. "Sexy Julia" isan unsubtle yet entertaining ode to an object of affection/desire. There is anabstract musicality encompassed in the catchy rock arrangement, and the song isdanceable in spite of its slightly messy presentation. Serapicos says goodnightwith the title track, a stumbling and inexplicably sad number that is messilythrown together and performed without conviction.Going italone on a first recording can be wonderfully freeing as an artist.  It also leaves those who create exposed bythe weakness of their own worse natures. There is a clear influence of 1960’s rock and roll on Serapicos Is A Town, and the utter joythat emanates from music of that era is evident.  Serapicos even manages to create some of thesame manic glee, both lyrically and musically, that drove the best of TheyMight Be Giants’ work.  At the same time,Serapicos struggles against his own sense of cuteness, crossing over at timesinto wildly banal or even downright unlistenable moments.  There is a lot of good to be mined from Serapicos Is A Town.  A first classproducer could reign in Serapicos’ more self-immolating songwriting tendenciesand help him find the pure pop gems he seeks here.

Rating:           3 Stars(Out of 5)

Learn more atwww.serapicosisatown.com.