This group from Cataluna perhaps inevitably invokes the acoustic flavor and rhythm kick of
Manu Chao's solo discs with more emphasis on folk forms than the electric jolt of
Mano Negra.
Go,
Dusminguet's third disc, was recorded under the shadow of the death of bassist Carlos Rivolta, electrocuted on-stage at a gig in Mexico. It's a home studio job and has that sort of feel of fragments thrown together. The first few songs sound like setting the stage for what's to come, but "El Son" gets some momentum working, changing over from rhumba to son. Both "Spain" and "Maneras" are both zippy little accordion features, the former over a double-time ska-cum-country base and the latter closer to a cumbia foundation, with lyrics that sound more than a little sarcastic. But man, "Rock 'n' Roll" is like a clarion call to action (a mi me gusta rock & roll indeed), a fully Latinate rhythm trip attack that immediately raises the music and intensity level several notches. The four-song stretch bookended by "Rock 'n' Roll" and the accordion-flavored reggae of "El Cami," the latter with bubbling organ and great understated vocal harmonies over a full-bodied skank that locks down hard, just plain kicks butt. Joan Garriga's accordion wails again on "La Rabia," and his squeezebox skills may be the group's most memorable single component. But the impetus fades away after that, and the big problem is that
Dusminguet just doesn't feel like a major band. The music on
Go makes 50-odd minutes pass by pleasantly enough, catchy in spots but pretty slight on the whole. "L'Enterro" goes a little Greek/Eastern European bouzouki-ish and the mix probably works fine in concert, but it never truly escapes being minor stuff. ~ Don Snowden