Beaming themselves over the globe from Bueros Aires, Las Kellies return somewhat revitalised with their fourth album for Fire Records
Being one of Argentina’s most notable cultural exports over the last decade or so, Las Kellies are one of many bands in the current Covid-19 crisis that remind us that even if we might currently be physically grounded and barricaded in by multiple borders, music itself has few barriers, at least while there is still internet access available. So even though a much-anticipated spring tour for the UK and Europe has been postponed indefinitely, this fourth album for London’s Fire Records is still reaching our ears. Happily, the irreverently-anointed Suck This Tangerine is also the kind of fidgety and energetic record needed right now to lift spirits and keep people moving, albeit in more confined and isolated spaces.
Now trimmed down from a trio to the duo of Cecilia Kelly (bass, guitars, vocals) and Silvina Costa (drums, percussion and vocals), this fresh platter casts away the shoe-gazing and psych-rock clouds that slightly overshadowed 2016’s likeable but flawed Friends & Lovers LP. Instead, it cleaves closer to hybridising the bouncy post-punk-funk of 2011’s Las Kellies with the dub-laced danceability of 2013’s Total Exposure, whilst subtly adding some extra dimensions.
Despite the twosome’s musical reference points being way out in the open, they are adroitly cross-pollinated. Hence, the likes of “Closer” and “Baby” fuse early-Public Image Limited-like scratchiness with Delta 5 art-punk; “Funny Money”, “Close Talker” and “Weekdays” puncture Tom Tom Club polyrhythms with shards of Gang of Four staccato riffing; “Matrixland” and “Despite” feel like ESG dipped in a vat of melted-down Raincoats records; and “White Paradise” obliquely finds a missing link between Santana and Os Mutantes.
Although the pacing and production of Suck This Tangerine could have been varied a tad to make for a slightly more undulating and less dry recording, in the most part Las Kellies have conjured-up a collection that packs in a high-level of commendable and benevolent sonic infectiousness.
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