Los thuthanaka waka review | Edge

Los Thuthanaka came out of nowhere last year to catch him pitchfork album of the year with their self-titled debut. Because it was not available via live stream, it remained largely under the radar. I honestly even forgot about it pitchfork It gave it first place on the year-end list. Looking back, I’m not quite sure how I did it. Los Tuthanaka It seems like nothing else. It’s cheerful, it’s raspy, and it sounds like it’s blasting out of a broken Bluetooth speaker in your neighbors’ backyard—it’s awesome.

Follow up EP Waka It lowers the tempo and smoothes out some of the sharper edges. It uses the same sound palette of blown speakers and samples of traditional Bolivian instruments that are equal parts bluesyphonic and psychedelic rock. but Waka He is completely indebted to Shoegaze. The string progressions and melodies become sadder, and the guitars are drowned in fuzz and reverb. There are horns and keys that peek into the mix like half-forgotten memories of other songs.

Siblings Chukimani-Kunduri and Joshua Chukimiya Crampton present an aural interpretation of the Aymara creation myth of the first sunrise over the course of three songs, lasting just 18 and a half minutes. If you purchase Wak’a on Bandcamp, your download includes a PDF created in collaboration with Ch’ama Native Americas that tells the story in the Aymara language.

It’s fitting that the EP sounds like a world emerging from the darkness. The opening track “Quta (capo-kullawada)” begins with a low-synth drone and chirping crickets before an Eno-esque guitar melody and a distorted drum line. “Wara Wara (capo-kullawada)” is beautiful but also terrifying. The wall of sound is discouraging and startling in the way you would expect the first rays of the blazing sun to be for people who previously lived in perpetual night. It eventually reaches the kind of cathartic climax that many musicians spend their entire careers chasing as horns, keyboards, growling vocals and asymmetrical guitars collide in a chaotic inferno.

In comparison, “Ay Kawkinpachasa? (capo-kullawada)” is a laid-back piece, despite its undeniably dense arrangement where individual instruments are increasingly difficult to pick out. There’s what sounds like accordion, violin and keys all fighting for the same sonic real estate, and the faltering guitars eventually take over just in time for the EP to end.

For those who found the group’s self-titled record too abrasive, this EP offers a more accessible introduction to their unique sound. Los Thothonaca Waka Available now on Bandcamp.