Volcán is a young, contemporary, indie orquesta Latina, comprised of thirteen members all rallying around lead singer Jose Huizar and principal songwriter Jaime Mejia. The group's organic yet impressively sophisticated music is something of a cultural mestizaje, combining elements of classic psych-rock with jazz, soul, cumbia, and Latin pop to reach a unique sound that, while it may seem tempting to make the comparison, sounds nothing like any of Carlos Santana's work.
On Saturday, the group (yep, all thirteen) will cram into Hi-Tones to celebrate the release of its first recorded music, the fantastic, all-original, and consistently surprising Ritmo, Cultura x Amor EP.
Courtesy
Cover art for Volcán's "Ritmo, Cultura x Amor" EP
Volcán is, it may be said, exactly the type of outfit that San Anto was destined to birth: in touch with the disparate threads of cultural legacy that make this place so damn special, entirely possessed by the holy ghost of impossible Latin rhythms, and unabashedly experimental in forging a brand new sound, frolicking between the pillars of cumbia, Latin pop, and rock. (Just dig the live video for EP track "Tu Mirar" below.) That the band insists on only recording and playing originals adds even more to its credit. If any complaint about this masterful debut could be made, it would merely lament its brevity. At only four songs, the EP ends just when the trance reaches an apex. But, maybe that's a good thing.
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