Short Reviews [Mula - 2019 - "Matasesos"]

I don’t think I have previously been contacted directly by a band from Colombia, so when bassist/singer Santiago Botero got in touch I was intrigued. When I then realised he had been given my details by Clement Dupuis from Dur et Doux, I knew this was something I just had to hear. Santiago told me the band’s influences are free jazz, math core, noise, and punk rock, and certainly one can hear all of these (often at the same time), and the result is something which definitely made me smile. As well as Santiago, the band comprises Enrique "Kike" Mendoza (guitar, backing vocals), Maria Valencia (clarinet, alto saxophone, backing vocals), Juan Ignacio Arbaiza (clarinet, tenor saxophone, backing vocals), Pablo Munoz (baritone saxophone, backing vocals), Camilo Bartelsman (drums, backing vocals) and Diego Herrera (laptop, synthesizers, processes, backing vocals). As can be seen from the line-up, brass instruments are incredibly important to the sound, and there are times when they feel like straight jazz band, but that never lasts for too long. This, their fourth album, is an anarchic ride, almost as if NOFX had decided they were going to expand the horn section and get into free jazz and RIO. “Disculpe Ud. Senora” keeps the four-note bass riff and drum interplay going for more than 8 minutes (!), while the brass comes in over the top and the guitar provides a buzzsaw sound behind it all. The result is almost hypnotic, drawing the listener further into their world. This is the only lengthy song on the album, more than 13 minutes, and while the listener feels they are being beaten over the head by a hammer there is something about it which does not allow them to turn away. In many ways this is brutal music, yet it is definitely smashing through boundaries to create something which for me is strangely compelling. This not easy stuff to listen to, and the vast majority of the hordes would run a mile, but if you are looking for something different which will expand your mind, then seek this out.