Fumaca Preta - Pepas

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 26 / 3 / 2019

Label: Stolen Body Recordings
Format: CD

Mesmerizing and elaborate third album from Brighton-based Latin psychedelia punk trio Fumaca Preta

Review

Recorded close to the Red Light District of Amsterdam on vintage instruments, the third LP from the Venuzuelean-Portuguese, Irish and English trio Fumaca Preta will not waste a single moment of your time. Eight tracks and just half an hour long, 'Pepas' is crammed with impact. And contrast. The dreams and wake-up calls on it take you through psychedelic tropicalica, punk, afro-latin and funk in a way that you might not fathom. Their first release on Bristol's Stolen Body label comes in a stunning sleeve. What is even more stunning is that singer and drummer Alex Figueira persists in singing in his native tongue although his command of the English language is more than passable compared to the vast majority of foreign bands. And that's where I miss out. For example, the few words on 'Arepa De Chicharrón' that I managed to comprehend lead me to believe he's very concerned about the deforestation in South America. Yet this adds to the mysterious beauty of 'Pepas'. You don't understand what he's singing and know he's probably right. With bassist James Porch and Stuart Carter on guitar and organ, they are a half garage punk and half Latin psychedelia trio. They move from being furious on 'Pepas De Colores' to the very seductive 'Matraqeao', which, graced with a fabulous organ outro, sets the tone for this, and also their first two LPs. Not though when two gorgeous songs become one. 'Aquí Abajo' is moulded with 'Piña Colada' in a way though that I've only heard in freeform jazz. It makes for a very impressive and once in a lifetime ten minutes. The variation on the vallenato music style on the next track 'Baygon' results in a galloping song that could raise a storm. Banging on all the right buttons, it's bound to become a tropical street anthem. Baygon is an insecticide spray by the way. Ominous sounds and words come next on 'El Mismo Abismo' and bring to a close this too short which makes an essential thirty minutes of music.