The trio PUTA MADRE BROTHERS comes from Australia. The three of them really act like Mexicans and make music that… well, is quite special. No one knows where the three come from, only that they have been causing a stir in Down Under for a few years now. The band biography on their homepage reads like a diary of brilliant dilettantes. One of the band members is booked as a DJ and usually plays un-danceable pieces, if at all, because he is not skilled with the technology. So it says there. What are we to make of that? Probably spent too long in the sun without a sombrero. Eventually, the brain gets soft, and that’s why the three Australians now make music. You have to do something. What comes out of the speakers is mostly instrumental. Played with two guitars, a bass, and three bass drums. It sounds quirky, and it is.
If we set aside the question of why three Australians are acting like Mexicans, playing while sitting down, and having three bass drums, and let the music take effect, it becomes clear that these guys are something really great for lovers of obscure trash. The sound is indeed reminiscent of the Mexican sound that one knows and that plays up and down at every good Mexican place. Add to that the aforementioned three bass drums and guitars, one of which is always set a bit too loud. It sounds offbeat, and it is. It’s usually quite noisy. From an artistic perspective, you get something decent overall.
But even if I dig out all my Italian Westerns, like “A Lonely Man Returns” or “Three Amen for Satan” just to listen to the film music, the sound of PUTA MADRE BROTHERS doesn’t quite fit in there either. It’s just too offbeat for that. The most obvious reason is the aforementioned too-loud guitar. Whether there weren’t good microphones available for the few sung songs in the studio or whether a wild kangaroo distorted the vocal tracks, I can’t say, but does the singing have to sound like it’s coming from an aging gramophone?
This is heavy, obscure stuff. If you’re into that, you should give PUTA MADRE BROTHERS a try; everyone else should be cautious. Not for normal people, the sound!
Live, the wild three are touring Europe in March 2011 with songs like “Never a Lady named Louigi.”
