Review Go-Neko! — Los Malos de Verdad
Go-Neko! set out their stall on 2008’s Una Especie de Mutante; surging guitar riffs, pounded drums and tight, extended instrumentals were clearly the signs of a band owing some debt to kraut rock and heaviest post-rock bands out there (I’m thinking Mogwai in particular). Los Malos de Verdad is a continuation of this sound, adding to it a few more muscles and consequent visceral power Throughout, the drums light up these songs thanks to their sheer heaviness while guitars and keyboards propel the songs forward.
The songs have shortened for this release with five minutes far more common than seven or eight on the previous release, and this helps keep the album inventive. Standouts are the epic punk of “Los Malos de Verdad” and the alluring “Tumba Rancho” where the standard bombastic guitar and drum combo gives way to keyboard and strummed guitars before returning again to pounded glories. The penultimate track “8th Man” suggests one way in which their sound could develop and veers close to the hypnotic thrall of Spacemen 3, even using the same combination of circular guitar riff and reverb-heavy harmonica.
Perhaps the fairest way of describing Go-Neko’s sound is by suggesting that it’s somewhere between fierce British rock such as Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream (especially with regards to the use of samples) and the afore-mentioned Mogwai, and the Krautrock of Neu! And Can. It’s a happy marriage which puts Go-Neko in the company of Chile’s Serpentina Satelite and other bands in both Argentina and Chile who have freed themselves from Rock Nacional and can actually really play!
“Los Malos de Verdad”
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“8th Man”
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