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Released on June 23, 2015 via Boing! Music
Hot on the heels of their Culture Clash Live! CD+DVD set the three amigos are back with their third studio album. I may not know much about maths (that’s math for our American readers) but I know what I like and I know that Tres Caballeros equals fun to the power of three.
Opener ‘Stupid 7’ doesn’t muck about, traversing several changes in time signature in its first minute. It’s frantic stuff and sounds like a well-known Canadian power trio played at 45rpm. Guthrie Govan proves he is a wizard with a whammy pedal during a frankly demented lead break that makes Jordan Rudess’s most outré synth solos seem run-of-the-mill. It is ridiculous, totally gratuitous and should not be played in the company of decent people. Well done, that man!
The Aristocrats take their name from a joke format that has become a platform for comedians to convey the sickest and most twisted of comic ideas, protected from accusations of obscenity by the armour of the punchline. So these titular three knights do battle with all that is tasteful and decent, displaying their musical perversions while shielded by a metric fuck-ton of good humour, sheer virtuosic ability and the power of the almighty riff. What else can one do but snigger like a schoolboy when confronted with song titles like ‘The Kentucky Meat Shower’ and ‘Smuggler’s Corridor’?
The album is for the most part a high-octane thrill ride of dizzying technical invention, but its rootedness in good old rock ’n roll tropes keeps it motoring along without getting (too) masturbatory.
As the title and artwork suggest there is some Latin Americana in the mix. ‘Smuggler’s Corridor’ (snrrf) is all Texan tremolo and dingy New Mexico truck-stop chic. Its Ennio Morricone homage complete with whip crack sound effect begs the question which band member is good, bad or ugly? The band even get to show their sensitive side on ‘Pig’s Day Off’ and ‘Jack’s Back’ albeit with tongue firmly in cheek.
Tres Caballeros finishes with the eleven-minute workout ‘Through The Flower’, an extended balladic jam that still manages to flash that knowing wink, sounding like Frank Zappa’s late 70s band. Zappa famously posed the question “Does humour belong in music?”. Yes it bloody well does and this trio have it in spades. They are also three of the best musicians around today, but it is wrapping that technical ability in a sugar coating of damn good fun that makes them a joy to listen to. Buy this album and keep on rocking in the three world. ¡Arriba!
