The Ruby Suns

"Palmitos Park" (El Guincho Cover)

BY Cam LindsayPublished Oct 3, 2008

Despite positive reviews for this year's Sea Lion, their debut for Sub Pop, New Zealand's the Ruby Suns seem vitually non-existent on people's tongues. I'm not sure why they haven't ruled the blogs or become the sensation they deserve to be; I caught their performance at this year's Pitchfork Music Festival and they've got the goods to support the myriad tricks they pull off in the studio.

Even more surprising is the fact that they oftentimes fall into the whole "tropical" craze that highly publicized acts like Abe Vigoda, Vampire Weekend, High Places and El Guincho have turned into 2008's most rewarding trend. It's fitting then that they give it a go and cover El Guincho (aka Pablo Díaz-Reixa) for the B-side of his "Palmitos Park" single.

El Guincho's original is a tropicalismo explosion of effervescent polyrhythms, Latin spirit and scattered applause. The Ruby Suns keep the Caribbean vibe in check but slow it down quite a few BPMs, spiking it with tranquilizers and their Kiwi take on how to "do" Latin exoticism. It might not hold the same vivacious vim that Díaz-Reixa injected into his but it's a nice, chillaxed alternate take on one of the year's best tracks.

The Ruby Suns "Palmitos Park" (El Guincho cover)

El Guincho "Palmitos Park" (Original)

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