Not So Commercial

Album Review

This quick (less than 25 minutes) EP of outtakes and leftovers from this Venezuelan dance-funk act's Commercial album is terrific. A set of tight, ultra-danceable grooves, it occasionally displays greater ambition than they might reveal on a more "normal" album — opening cut "G-String" sounds like an instrumental from Santana's weirdest period (1972-1975). Three of the eight tracks here — "Youlikedat," "Easy Going," and the dubby "Dubi Dubi Dubi" — are one-minute interstitials, but even those aren't really throwaways; they just set up a rhythm and ride it as far as it'll go before launching into the next song. "Corduroy" has a swinging '60s vibe with its organ and "ba-ba-ba" vocals reminiscent of Sergio Mendes' Brasil '66, but throws a stinging guitar solo into the mix; "La Lluvia Sabe Que No Andas Sola" is built around a gentle synth melody and a stuttering funk beat, with a loverman rap on top; "Sweet" is another smooth groove, this time with English-language lyrics; and the final track, "Criticar," starts out in the same vein as the previous two tracks, but gets decidedly psychedelic and weird in its final 90 seconds. In a way, this EP shows that Los Amigos Invisibles could easily be a more danceable Café Tacuba, if they wanted to.