The Eternal Getdown

Is world music a kind of tourism, or closer to anthropology? Are Latino roots more authentic in rural pueblos or US cities? Can we be joyous and furious at the same time? This blistering release from Quetzal addresses these questions and others;always melodiously and always with feeling. Formed 24 years ago, it's amazing this bilingual LA-based ensemble isn’t better known in Europe. Their blend of rock, R&B and Mexican son jarocho with Afro-Cuban and even Japanese styles has won followings in California and Mexico and, in 2013, a Grammy for their Imaginaries album.
Everything about The Eternal Getdown is intriguing, from the songs’ academic-sounding titles (‘Cellular Memory’, ‘Critical Time’) to their themes. Not since Señor Billy Bragg's heyday have we heard songs so naturally waxing lyrical about pickets, marches, feminism and left-wing politics – to a sound that resists neat pigeonholing. Catch the growling bass, the mash-up of jaranas (guitar-like Mexican lutes) and strings, mock-gothic keyboards, Santana-esque soloing, and, over it all, Martha González's commanding vocals. Even a cover of ‘La Bamba’ is chaotic and a bit weird. Quetzal might be raucously West Coast but their febrile fusion matches the swagger and pride of Harlem in its salsa era. Chicano music is getting both cooler and hotter every day.