Boom Pam

Puerto Rican Nights

BY David DacksPublished Jan 26, 2009

Two guitars, tuba and drums unite once again for genre-busting party grooves. Puerto Rican Nights is a more aggressive and ornery album than their debut, and that's a good thing in every way. There are many moments of frenzied quarter-tone surf rock, which are just this side of noise, as in the midsection of the fuzz folk of "Longa Sultaniyegah" and the no wave breakdown in "Krai Dunavsko." The endless (though justified) Dick Dale comparisons are made plain by the excellent Tarantino-ready cover of Dale's "The Wedge." The use of vocals is far more effective this time out, from the broad comedy of "Marylyn Jones" to the banjo-driven Rawhide riff of "Shayeret Harohvim." Even their reggae-surf-aton number "Ani Rotse Lazuz," with Hebrew super-rapping by Balkan Beat Box's Tomer Yosef, is more unrestrained enjoyment than kitsch. Puerto Rican Nights manages to pull off being both a wider exploration into the many cultural inputs of Tel Aviv and a fierce party album.
(Essay)

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