Canibalismo

Peruvian cumbia (or chicha) is the rock‘n’roll of Latin music. More about feeling and attitude than other regional styles, it sets guitar and keyboards alongside an infectious beat; its origins as a working-class music in Peru has ensured that it's never been reined in by traditionalists. New York band Chicha Libre revel in this freedom, adding their own influences to create a sound with hints of Santana (‘El Carnicero de Chicago’), surf music (‘Lupita en la Selva y el Doctor’) and even off-kilter 60s pop on their cover of chicha classic ‘Muchachita del Oriente’, sounding not unlike Joe Meek's ‘Telstar’.

Bandleader Olivier Conan is one of the few Peruvian cumbia experts outside of Peru – he compiled The Roots of Chicha albums – and uses this knowledge to cover the spectrum of chicha itself, varying between the raucous Amazon style (‘Depresión Tropical’) and the more placid Andean approach (‘Papageno Electrico’). The album's highlight is their cover of ‘The Ride of the Valkyries, somehow successfully melding the incessant keyboard melody of early electronic hit ‘Popcorn’ with a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western landscape. You get the sense that Canibalismo is an album that fans of surf music, Nuggets-style psychedelic pop and 70s rock will enjoy just as much as any Latin music lover. This is music for road trips, Quentin Tarantino soundtracks and Friday nights in Soho. It's a joy from start to finish.