Music September 21, 2010 By Chase Hoffberger

filler163 El Guincho: Pop Negro

XL Recordings

Young Turks

elguincho title El Guincho: Pop Negro
Like its 2008 predecessor Alegranza!, the sophomore follow-up from El Guincho (real name Pablo Díaz-Reixa) plays like a celebration — a hybrid between Animal Collective’s brand of experimental pop and Brazil-entrenched tropicália. It’s surf rock for the southern hemisphere, a reverb-heavy set charged by an arsenal of drum samples both syncopated (“Bombay”) and full-bodied (“Soca Del Eclipse”). Of course, you may not understand a bit of what Díaz-Reixa is talking about unless you’re some degree of bilingual. Sung entirely in Spanish, Pop Negro’s muscle lies in the power of its rhythmic impressions. Every song has an audible clap, a smack that boosts the break in the beat — even the schizophrenic quickness of “(Chica-Oh) Drims”. Díaz-Reixa is a formidable frontman, and though his lyrical intonations can get lost in translation, his raw energy is eminent on album highlights “Lycra Mistral” and “Ghetto Fácil”. This is one the entire world should be able to get behind.

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