If you, like us, are proud music adventurers, we recommend giving a chance to Austin’s 4-piece femme and queer-charged punk/heavy rock-and-roll outfit, Naga Brujo. Championing fierce tones, unapologetic energy and the tendency to play euphoric, exciting sets, the group is certainly something to behold, especially seeing their recent release, the 4-track EP ‘Canceled’.
In it, listeners will find themselves in a world made up of gritty guitars, punchy drums and heart-shaking vocals. While the sonic description might not surprise you, given the long history of a genre that seems to have spent all of its creativity in the past three decades, Naga Brujo manage to instil into their music something so clearly personal that becomes hard to ignore, instantly catching all our attention and keeping us on our toes with mystery and sheer power.
Opening with ‘Sick Sad World’, the Austin talents expose their strengths: distorted bass, messy guitars, thick and fast drums. Male and female vocals work well together, creating a sort of ‘collective voice’ bringing a touch of freshness to the track. ‘Black Magic’ continues on the same path, collecting kudos till ‘Slug’ comes along. A short but meaningful drum solo introduces a robotic, dark composition, perhaps one of the best ones in the EP. ‘Fever Dream’ brings the record to a close, exploring more conventional rock’n’roll bays interlaced with mellow interludes.
Describing the lyrical theme behind each song, Naga Brujo explains: “Sick Sad World” surmises the overwhelming burnout we all experience surviving in modern-day capitalist society, “Slug” confronts the grotesque nature of the male gaze and rape culture all too common today, “Black Magick” is an offering of respect to the natural practices and beliefs of our ancestors and past civilizations while simultaneously rejecting modern indoctrinations that feed said capitalist society, and “Fever Dreamer” takes you through a literal fever dream, which I am sure all of us experienced one way or another throughout the pandemic”.
Recommended! Discover ‘Canceled’ EP on Spotify:
