When someone shares with me a band that is said to create “funk” music something very specific comes to mind. Often what comes to my mind is not exactly what I hear when I listen to a new album. In my mind I think heavy electric bass, brass, sharp drumming, and an overall “big band” vibe. Brownout’s new album Aguilas And Cobras is exactly this.

The album is not heavy on lyrical content, but it does have a great focus on the quality of the music and creating a new sound combining traditional beats with fresh ones. The first track “Con El Cuete” is a subdued introduction to the album, a good song, yet not the strongest. With minimal lyrics in the song, we get to hear an emphasis on each instrument from drums, to strings, to even a cow bell. The second track “Ayer Y Hoy” is strong on the Latin influenced sounds with the brass opening up the song and maintaining a fierce presence with the percussion. How can you not want to dance to such a song?

Once the title track comes on I’m pretty much reminiscing on all the dope house parties I’ve attended. It’s almost impossible for me to find something to critique about this song, and I find myself in the same position with the rest of the album.

I’m hardly a fan of comparing bands to one another, yet I have to admit that there was a level of nostalgia I experienced listening to Brownout’s latest album. I remembered the sounds of Santana and Jimi Hendrix my papi would play as I was growing up. I especially felt this on the last track “S.F. L.A. Con El Cuete (Reprise). There was even a few memories of early Lenny Kravitz (track 12 “C 130”). Musica that makes me nostalgic but also helps me create new memories is like gold to me!

Track 4, “Tell Her She’s Lovely,” won me over pretty quickly. It is some pretty good advice. Plus, I’ve already decided that track 5 “Framed By Death” and track 13 “Chancias De Ninja” are my walking-down-the-streets-of-NYC theme songs. “Framed By Death” is one of the first times we hear a güiro being used by Brownout. However, it’s the horns on this track are so ferocious they put a little more pep in my step. Track 6, “Another Fire,” is very much in the same approach as “Ayer Y Hoy” with the inclusion of big band salsa sounds. It’s also one of the shorter songs on the album, however, unlike other artist that only give us 10 tracks with less than an hour of music, Brownout’s average song is close to 4 minutes each and has a total of15 tracks.

“Olvidado” is the third song that has vocals on the entire album, but it has more vocals than the other two songs. The only interlude, and shortest song, is “The Flea” which highlights the drumming that is the hallmark of many Afro-Cuban funk genre’s. The song leads into “Slinky” (which you can watch a video of below), which gives you a good taste of the funk-Latin-inspired sounds with a dash of psychedelic tunes mixed in. Other highlights from the album include the song “Family Show” that can very easily be the soundtrack to just about anything; think homemade films, or the introductory song for a wedding party, or even the song that wakes you up in the morning. I like to dance to it while trying to dry my freshly polished nails.

This is one of the few albums that I can take with me to a house party and know it will be a crowd pleaser. There’s something for everyone on this album and if I can give it to my Papi as a gift then play it for my homegirls during a road trip, it’s worth the investment. Then again, anything to see my Papi play the air drums on the steering wheel when I visit for the holiday’s makes me happy.

Check out the video for track 9 “Slinky”

Brownout is touring!
Oct 8 2009 Blue Nile New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 9 2009 Thirsty Hippo Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Oct 10 2009 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 13 2009 World Cafe Live (Upstairs) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 14 2009 Liv Nightclub Washington DC, Washington DC
Oct 15 2009 Terrace Club Princeton, New Jersey
Oct 16 2009 Milky Way Jamaica Plain (Boston), Massachusetts
Oct 17 2009 SOB’s New York, New York
Oct 19 2009 Nighttown Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 20 2009 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
Nov 7 2009 Mohawk Austin, Texas

Visit the Brownout MySpace Page