Oozy (Nat Geo Music , 2012)
Austin’s Brownout is one of the most captivating Latin roots rock bands in the U.S. music scene. Although the group was initially an alter ego jam band of well-known Austin (Texas) band Grupo Fantasma, Brownout has matured into a stable band with a life of its own.
“When Brownout first came together some eight years and four albums ago, we called ourselves the ‘alter ego’”, says bassist Greg Gonzalez. “At this point it’s more like a split personality. The bands play completely different repertoires of music in different and varied styles. It’s like two separate movies with mostly the same cast. One movie is set in a pan-tropical world, spoken in Spanish with subtitles and the other takes place in a psychedelic Afro-centric reality. Same actors but unique plot and context“.
Oozy is the latest album by Brownout and it’s even better than the previous efforts. These tejanos are a rhythm machine, mixing funk, rock and Afro-Latin rhythms with early 1970s psychedelia and Santana.
“Brownout has successfully avoided trends and musical movements for close to a decade now, choosing to take the music and sound in our own direction,” says guitarist Adrian Quesada. “Rather than trying to sound like a lost record from 1970s, our analog sound is all our own – big, bombastic and at times psychedelic.”
The Brownout sound is characterized by dual guitars loaded with psychedelic effects, a potent percussion section, harmonic vocals and brass greatness.
Oozy is a phenomenal album of soulful Latin funk and psychedelia at its finest.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
