After
Hermanos Gutiérrez's
El Bueno y el Malo, an album inspired by spaghetti Western soundtracks, the Ecuadorian-Swiss siblings
Alejandro and
Estevan Gutiérrez got unanticipated media and streaming attention resulting in better opportunities. They played a celebrated gig at Coachella, headlined the Ryman in Nashville and Brooklyn Steel, toured with
Khruangbin, and were the house band at Vanity Fair's Oscar party for Oppenheimer.
Sonido Cósmico, their second
Easy Eye Sound date and sixth overall, doesn't abandon their rich bevy of desert-blasted soundscapes entirely; these 12 tracks use a wider range of instruments and ponder the mysteries of space as much as the lonely, arid horizon. Producer
Dan Auerbach plays a more active role. He presents
Hermanos Gutiérrez's sound as intended, not considered. They are accompanied throughout by
Mike Rojas on piano, Fender Rhodes, and Farfisa and Hammond organs. Other musicians include
Auerbach on occasional guitar, bass, and Mellotron,
Tom Bukovac (guitar),
Sam Bacco (percussion), and a couple of drummers in
Jeffery Clemens and
Adam Schreiber. Nashville session ace
Matt Combs adds strings to the title track. The greatest difference between
Sonido Cósmico and its predecessor is in the songwriting. No matter how spacious, open, and drifty they sometimes sound, they are tightly crafted, with verses, choruses, and in some cases, a bridge.
Opener "Lágrimas Negras" ("Black Tears") uses
Estevan's slide as the lyric instrument, while
Alejandro's fingerpicked electric teases out both bolero and flamenco notions, creating something mysterious, outside the grasp of the physical. "Cumbia Lunar" is nocturnal.
Bacco's hand drums bubble under Rhodes and Farfisa on the cumbia vamp, while the guitarists, using wah-wah pedals and a truckload of warm reverb, weave together strains of surf, psychedelic blues, modal folk music, and danzón. "El Fantasma" sounds like the opening theme of a spaghetti Western filmed in space. Rumbling, low slide guitar lines meet a serpentine B-3, muted drum kit, and wah-wah guitar rhythms, circling one another until they leave for points unknown. The title track weds a triad of electric guitars, B-3, vibraphone, Farfisa, percussion, and strings.
Combs adds an ethereal dimension to the backdrop, from which hangs subdued yet spiraling interplay between the guitarists. The baritone guitar
Auerbach employs as a bass in anchoring a speedy Viennese waltz frames a dialogue between guitars and strings. The proceedings sound more than a little like
Mono. That's countered in the single "Barrio Hustle," where wah-wah pedals reign supreme. Threaded through Peruvian cumbia, keyboards texture the inner space and govern the dynamics for a trio of electric guitars to weave darkly tinged Latin psychedelia across funky, trance-like, beats. "Los Navegantes" offers dovetailed guitars playing alternate melodies, spinning a single idea into a labyrinth of creative inquiry.
Sonido Cósmico is gorgeous. This music retains
Hermanos Gutiérrez's core musical fingerprint. That said, its collaborative strategy extends the brothers' reach in exploring genres, rhythms, colors, textures, and production techniques. ~ Thom Jurek
![Expensive Shit [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0720841207511_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Expensive Shit [LP]")
