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Sonido Gallo Negro
Sendero Mistico (Glitterbeat Records)
3 Stars
THIS Mexican nine-piece dedicated itself to instrumental cumbia and specifically its Peruvian version chicha — the same name as the alcoholic drink.
The patterns of chicha mimic those of the coastal waltzes of Peru and are very danceable if rather monotonous.
Chicha, keyboard led, emerged in the ’60s and holds psychedelic rock as one of its influences — hence one of the tunes featured here, Inca-A-Delic.
You could swear Hank Marvin was moonlighting on the delightfully pulsating and closest to autochthon chicha Virgenes Del Sol — Virgins Of The Sun.
Each of the songs is preceded by the brief mystical story that inspired it, delivered in Spanish and originating in places as distant as Benin, Haiti or Peru.
Sonido, who dress as monks for their performances, are best enjoyed as a live act.
It’s then that numbers like Tzantzo Soul and Alfonso Grana will be better appreciated.
