Reviews

Nada Nada

Agentss Agentss 12″

A reissue of the two EPs from this São Paulo, Brazil new wave synth group. Folks may be familiar with this band from opening the Não Wave comp of Brazilian post-punk that came out in 2005, which, along with the Sexual Life of the Savages comp, really introduced me to this whole scene (the latter specifically to the amazing AS MERCENÁRIAS). AGENTSS were apparently the first synth band in Brazil, forming after their lead singer/keyboardist Kodiak Bachine visited America and discovered records by, among others, the CURE, GARY NUMAN, and KRAFTWERK, groups whose influence is obvious on the four songs here. The guitars are drenched in chorus and delay, the synth zooms and glides through the soundscape, and the mood is more robotic and nervy than somber or dramatic. Short but landmark, it would make a good deep-cut DJ bin-filler for your goth bar set.

Agentss Agentss 2xLP

After forty-two years stored away in the archives of a member of the band, eight extensive years of insistence, and four years of labor, Nada Nada was able to unearth this precious Brazilian new wave gem. For a bit of context, AGENTSS were a pioneering band of the country’s new wave movement, mixing elements of electronic and minimalist music. They quickly became a cult band in the city of São Paulo, bringing a huge following to wherever they played. AGENTSS was in tune with the international new wave scene and were on the same wavelength as acts like DEVO or KRAFTWERK. This compilation collects their four songs released as EPs in 1981 and 1983, plus eleven more exclusive tracks recorded around the same time. An important piece of Brazilian music.

AKT 3 Frauen​-​Feuer 12″

AKT brought together four women from Brazil’s mid-to-late ’80s underground scene (Sandra Coutinho from the legendary MERCENÁRIAS, Dequinha Camargo of minimal wave act BRUHAHÁ BABÉLICO, Karla Xavier from experimental electronic post-punks R. MUTT, and Biba Meira, drummer for genre-bending rockers DEFALLA) who were all interested in exploring more improvised and less rock-oriented approaches to music-making with the German avant-garde serving as a primary touchstone, from tranced-out Krautrock rhythms to industrial/electronic-minded Neue Deutsche Welle groups like MALARIA! The numbering of the band’s name actually changed through key phases in their brief existence—AKT 1 for their first live shows in 1990, AKT 2 later that year when they recorded the six tracks collected on Frauen-Feuer (only two of which have been previously released, on a 1991 Brazilian comp LP), and now AKT 3 for this 2022 archival resurrection. “Habits” pairs deep post-punk bass throb with English lyrics lifted from Ezra Pound and samples of howling dogs, and “Wir Haben” (with foreboding, theatrical vocals in German, natch) runs the acute-angled rhythms of CARAMBOLAGE through a dense fog of processed electronics, while the lurching low-end, spin-cycle drumming, and disorienting synth textures of “Prince No Deserto Vermelho” (sung in their native Portuguese) is totally no wave via NEUBATEN. That cold-stare intensity lets up on the instrumentals “Carrossel” and “Os Sufis Dançam,” although the unsettled Metropolis-worthy atmosphere remains, which makes the almost conventional post-new wave pop lilt of “He is Happy” AKT’s sharpest turn of all. History exists to be rewritten.

Cankro Reflexo da Verdade EP

This record is pure evil. It has literally everything you want: moshy breakdowns, tupa-tupa beats, reverb-y vocals, DISCHARGE- esque D-beat riffs…just everything. The most obvious contemporary comparison that comes to mind is DESTINO FINAL, but this 7″ seems punchier than what that band put out. This record would definitely hold up to MURO’s Ataque Hardcore LP.

Cólera Pela Paz Em Todo Mundo LP reissue

Legends CÁ”LERA started in 1979 and are one of the most iconic punk bands to come out of a post-dictatorial Brazil. They were one the first Brazilian punk bands to tour Europe and sold 85,000 copies of their second album Pela Paz Em Todo Mundo when it was first released through Ataque Frontal Records, making it the second best-selling independent punk record in Brazil, only being outdone by GAROTOS PODRES’ Mais Podres do que Nunca. This is class struggle turned into the sound of punk rock: the lyrics are sharp as a razor and work so well because they are sung in Portuguese, which makes them stand out with very notable themes for their time and their place like ecology, pacifism, and anti-militarism. This is a great introductory record if you want to get into the scene that spawned the greats like OLHO SECO, RATOS DE PORÁO, and MERCENARIAS. “Paz é algo pelo que se luta!“

Duplo Dor Dor Dor, BB EP

DUPLO is the latest in a recent history of excellent output from São Paulo, Brazil. Some interesting sensibilities mixed up here: “Dance” is an approachable disco punk song with some interesting rhythmic touches, while the closer “Roda Continua” has playful surf touches of the CRAMPS using obsessive repetition to mind-melting effect before building up to an ecstatic meltdown. Paula Rebellato from RAKTA is playing drums and, as they go heavy on the delay pedal, there are some echoes of RAKTA’s more HAWKWIND-influenced days when they still had a guitar in the band. Solid debut.

Fellini A Melhor Coisa Que Eu Fiz (84-90) LP

A collection of alternate versions and previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1990 by cult Brazilian post-punks FELLINI, who formed out of São Paulo’s thriving underground scene in the mid-’80s. The group’s initial influences skewed toward greyscale UK post-punk in an early Factory Records fashion, with spindly guitar work, bass-driven melodies, sparse drum machine, and somewhat oblique vocals tracing similar lines as the ones drawn by the DURUTTI COLUMN, early NEW ORDER, and even JOSEF K, without really sounding overtly like any of them (see some of the earlier tracks on the LP, like “É Chato” or “Premonição”). And just as nearly all of the most interesting early post-punk bands ultimately needed to push back against what quickly became a too-rigid genre orthodoxy if they stayed together for any extended amount of time, with the ’80s giving way to the ’90s, echoes of Brazilian samba and Tropicália started surfacing in the still-stark FELLINI sound, with the incorporation of acoustic guitars, breezy vocals, and jazzy rhythms in songs like “O Destino” and “Por Toda Parte” that owed more to OS MUTANTES than, say, JOY DIVISION. That progression is made apparent in the way that A Melhor Coisa Que Eu Fiz is sequenced, but it’s also such a gradual and natural evolution that all of the tracks could have just as easily been the product of one recording session, rather than pulled from half a decade’s worth of material. This is a really solid and lovingly assembled anthology for a group that hasn’t gotten a ton of recognition in more Euro/US-centric narratives of second-wave post-punk in the 1980s, and well worth investigating if you’re unfamiliar with FELLINI and at all interested in dismantling that particular canon.

Gang 90 & Absurdettes Demo 1982 EP

Over the course of several years, Brazil’s Nada Nada Discos has established itself as among the best record labels in the world. NND has been particularly instrumental in lovingly reissuing some truly necessary Brazilian punk and hardcore gems. This new GANG 90 & ABSURDETTES 7″—featuring three long lost demo tracks from 1982—is another Brazilian reissue, although GANG 90 is more accurately described as pure 80s new wave. For those who are unfamiliar with the group, GANG 90 released several singles and albums in Brazil throughout the ’80s, but this recording represents some of their earliest (and roughest) recordings. Musically, this 7″ baaaaaaarely qualifies for review in a punk fanzine—I have a feeling Tim Yo would’ve axed this one in the day—but the charming lo-fi recording, spunky bedroom pop vibes, and early BOW WOW WOW energy has me convinced. For me, “Convite Ao Prazer” is the mixtape-worthy hit here, as some of the KID CREOLE influence across the record occasionally loses me. As always with NND, this record comes with gorgeous packaging featuring amazing archival photos. Not for the punk purists, but a must-listen for the wavers who still resent the rigid uniformity that hardcore imposed on arty DIY scenes the world over in the early ’80s.

Gattopardo Cleo EP

Enigmatic post-punk from São Paulo. “Cleo” could have easily fit on the Rough Trade roster in 1979: jangling, clattering funky post-punk, with a smattering of sax. On the flip, “As Bruxas” takes the listener down a BAUHAUS doom spiral: a darker sound introduced by more chorus on the guitar lends the whole thing a more gothic vibe. A great introduction that left this listener wanting more. There’s an album from 2014 that I will be investigating forthwith.

Ida E Os Voltas Demo 1986 12″

This was truly something I wasn’t expecting to see come to light! IDA E OS VOLTAS existed from late 1985 to 1988 as part of a highly art-minded underground scene in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte which has been relatively under-documented, and consequently under-celebrated, compared to São Paulo’s concurrent post-punk output (you won’t find any Soul Jazz collections focused on Belo Horizonte bands). I first heard them on a 2018 digital-only comp of avant-garde Brazilian sounds (Colt 45, big-time recommendation) and I was completely spellbound by the art-punk mystique of their track “Jovens Raptados,” driven by tom-heavy percussion, sneaky guitar/bass interplay reminiscent of the CURE circa Seventeen Seconds, and perfectly flat-affect dual girl/boy vocals chanted in Portuguese. Aside from their two contributions to that comp, there was precious little trace of IDA E OS VOLTAS to be found in the internet ether (recordings or otherwise)—this six-song 12” reproduces their 1986 Samambaias Voadoras demo cassette in full, and what a gift it is. Textbook post-punk bass propulsion locks into sparse scribbles of bright guitar and Ida Feldman’s sing-song vocals like a Brazilian take on BONA DISH for the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it “Deus,” the instrumental “Samambaias Voadoras” dances around the edges of scratchy 99 Records-style mutant funk, and “Anti-Progresso” recalls SOLD SPACE’s dreamy, homespun electro-pop, while lo-fi Casio stabs and the anxious tick of a drum machine give “Cadê a Embaixatriz / Revolta” a similar roughed-up ’80s DIY charm. I only wish there was more where this came from!

MENTIRA Autointitulado 2×7″

Electro-darkwave duo from Barcelona. Simplistic bass with shouty vocals spattered over a sparse Casio melody, and it’s pretty cool. “História Sem Graça” is an obscure, early ’80s techno tune—equally sparse, and equally rad. It comes with the Guerra flexi, which has a lighter more pastoral sound, with vocals dreamier than the 7″—almost like the vibrations of spring. It’s just off-kilter enough to lighten the melodic drone, and keep things from getting stagnant.

Mercenárias Baú 83-87 LP

More material unearthed from the Brazilian masters of post-punk, courtesy of the splendid Nada Nada Discos. Twenty great quality demo and live tracks, and often even cooler, rawer versions of previously released ones. The live tracks from “Hardcore Rock Night” on side B especially demonstrate the sheer power and genius these women were capable of. Angular beats, massive hooks, enchanting melodies, confrontational harshness—they really could do it all. And the dreamy photo booklet layout reveals just how larger-than-life this band was. Mandatory for both fans and newcomers.

Deafkids / Rakta Live at SESC Pompéia LP

The evolution of São Paulo’s RAKTA and Rio’s DEAFKIDS from, respectively, gothic post-punx and a solo crust project into their recent psych-freak heights has been hugely satisfying to witness, and also seemed to bring the two groups into each other’s orbit. Witnessed them both smash it live when they toured Europe together in 2019, including a decent chunk of RAKTA’s set which in fact saw both bands onstage—bringing us to this album, recorded live in São Paulo a little later in the year with all six members performing as a singular noise unit. You get two songs each from the most recent RAKTA and DEAFKIDS albums, plus both sides of the collaborative 7″ they made for that tour, and not only is it a spot-on recording, for the most part it sounds notably different—jammier, trippier, wormholier—to the studio versions. In this, Sesc Pompeia gets past the common problem of complete pointlessness associated with live albums. The presence of two drummers is key, helping to make RAKTA’s “Miragem” into a major Krautrock rave-up, and the rendition of “Espirais Da Loucura” by DEAFKIDS that closes this LP gets on a buckwild cosmic jazz tip.

Ratos do Beco Demo 1978 EP

Purported to be Brazil’s very first punk band, RATOS DO BECO never played a formal show in their brief existence from September to December 1978. Legend has it that their open-garage-door rehearsals would draw a crowd of curious onlookers, with motorists pulling over to get a closer look and listen. Founding member Miguel Barella (who would go on to form the excellent new wave outfit AGENTSS) captured one of these practice-cum-gigs on reel-to-reel tape, which all these years later, comprises the four-ish songs on this EP. “Saved from obscurity” releases like this are often propped up by their backstories, and in this case the story is providing a fair amount of propping. Calling it a demo is a bit of a stretch as it truly does sound like a hastily recorded practice, replete with aging tape interference and a snippet of a cover of “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” So, does the music warrant a 2024 vinyl pressing complete with a sixteen-page booklet of photos and liner notes? Your mileage may be different from mine, but I’d answer that with a resounding “probably!” They sound like a rudimentary version of France’s finest first-wave punks, the DOGS. RATOS DO BECO play some dirty rock’n’roll that has enough snarl and feral energy to be called punk. Unlike so many of their contemporaries, they weren’t aping the SEX PISTOLS or (partial cover aside) the RAMONES. The band members appear to have gone on to have impactful careers in music. This EP portrays a partially developed snapshot of unbridled youth and rebellion in its most gestational form. A charming slice of South American punk history.