El Bueno y el Malo

Swiss-Ecuadorian guitar duo Hermanos Gutiérrez make their intentions clear from the first twang of heavily-reverbed guitar. Sitting somewhere between Tarantino movie soundtrack and spaghetti western theme, El Bueno y el Malo invites you along a dusty highway into the unknown. The album title pays homage to iconic Western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Concerns that the sound will be restricted are soon allayed. Brothers Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez paint a varied and beautifully-cinematic soundscape with their spacious playing. Through evocative guitar melodies that intertwine intuitively, the pair create spectacular imagery. With tickles of percussion and hints of viola, the album is a delight. It’s easy to see why the pair caught the attention of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who signed them to his Easy Eye Sound label. Perhaps the best way to describe the sound is by quoting how it makes the brothers feel: “When Alejandro and I play together, it’s like we are driving a car,” says Estevan Gutiérrez. “It’s like we are taking a road trip. Sometimes we’re driving through a desert. Sometimes we’re travelling up the coast. But always we are in nature, and we see the most beautiful landscapes, sunrises, sunsets.”