CD reviews

Os Mutantes
Haih or Amortecedor
(ANTI-)
*2.7*
Goes well with: Gilberto Gil, The 5th Dimension, Tommy Tune

What if the next time you saw your father, he was wearing a sleeveless Lady GaGa T-shirt tucked into skinny jeans and tacking an “-izzle” onto the end of every sentence? If an immediate intervention to “talk him down” is your first instinct, then skip listening to Os Mutantes’ new record.

Their first album in 35 years, they (or rather, he—Sergio Dias is the only original member left) should’ve let things be. Formed in 1966 as part of the Tropicália movement, they revolutionized Brazilian music by fusing psychedelia with native rhythms, influencing countless others before splitting in 1978. If only we could remember them forever that way.

Sadly, most of Haih sounds like an extra-precocious version of High School Musical done in São Paulo. What may have been cutting edge four decades ago now sounds painfully antiquated, and updating it only makes the situation worse.

“Samba Do Fidel” is a desperately needed bright spot, but anyone who makes it past the chorus of “I am singing the music of life / Sing with me now / Let us sing to the rainbow of love / All together” on “Neurociencia Do Amor” without vomiting is either comatose or related to the band.

They licensed their music to McDonald’s last year, but this insufferable cheesiness is a far worse transgression.

—Scott McDonald

Polvo
In Prism
(Merge)
*8.4*
Goes well with: Archers of Loaf, Mission of Burma, Slint

Nineties reunions are suddenly all the rage, but barring the reformation of Nirvana with Kurt Cobain’s Rock Star avatar as the frontman, you’re not going to hear much outcry from grown-ass indie rockers. The term “sell-out” ceases to mean anything when you have kids to feed. Not that North Carolina quartet Polvo are going to make piles of money off this venture, but for what it’s worth, they’ve returned after a 10-year sabbatical to produce the best guitar album of the year.

There was always a woozy, lopsided feel to Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski’s dueling guitars, but they’re given more space than ever to roam freely here, weaving intricate patterns across each other’s work. Age hasn’t mellowed their playing so much as refined it, and In Prism gives direction to passages that may have seemed aimless on past albums.

Even when taking on a more traditional rock song, like on the vaguely punkish “Beggars Bowl,” Bowie and Brylawski’s guitars augment the rush with unexpected blissful overtones. And the longer, drifting pieces—the eight-minute-plus “Lucia” and “A Link in the Chain”—scale epic heights without sounding completely self-indulgent, which is a triumph in itself.

There have been albums I’ve liked more in the past few months, but none that I’ve listened to on such a consistent basis. In Prism comes through reliably every time, offering refractions that I missed the first (and 20th) time around, standing as maybe the greatest example yet of an indie-rock reformation surpassing all expectations.

—Todd Kroviak

Starfucker
Jupiter
(Badman Recording Co.)
*7.6*
Goes well with: Of Montreal, MGMT, threatening to move to Portland

As an aging, self-mocking white man, I frequently talk shit about my Caucasian peers’ annoying tastes: the skinny headbands, silly haircuts, glib retro parroting, fixed-gear bikes, ad nauseam irony, etc. So, it’s a surprise that instead of telling Starfucker—a quartet that embodies many of these traits—to get the hell off my lawn, I want to invite them inside to get the dance party started.

Beginning innocuously as a solo project for singer-songwriter Josh Hodges, Starfucker have, in just two years, released a self-titled long-player, become one of the most popular bands in Portland’s vibrant music scene and, now, released Jupiter, an EP that feels like an appetizer for the band’s energetic live entrée. Opening tracks “Medicine” and “Boy Toy” are the clearest representations of the Starfucker sound, a splattering of persistently driving beats, warmly inviting keyboards, group vocals and simple lyrics. Unlike other bands that tread similar retro terrain and treat songs that should be breezy like homework or hassle, Starfucker never waver from a good-time vibe. And it’s that conviction that inspires even jaded old fogies to drop pre-conceptions and shake some booty.

While Jupiter doesn’t quite match the ebullience of Starfucker’s live show, it’s good enough to convince you to see them in person.

—Ian M Rick

Starfucker play Monday, Oct. 5, at The Loft @ UCSD.