Garotas Suecas
Schubas; Tue 14
In Brazil, music forms such as samba, maracatu and forró are inseparable from dancing. Even much of the country’s indie rock—a genre typically associated with head nodding here—comes built to make you sweat, from Bondo do Rolê to Cansei de Ser Sexy. São Paulo’s latest export, Garotas Suecas (misleading translation: “Swedish Girls”), a high-energy six-piece with members ranging from their late teens to early twenties, playfully mashes tropicalia and samba with patriotic nostalgia. More important, it forces feet into action.
On a self-funded debut EP, Dinossauros, Suecas flashed back to the scrappy charm of the überhip Mutantes. The group’s bold new LP, Escaldante Banda, shakes off the dust, tightens up and looks to the joyous funk of Jorge Ben and Tim Maia. Hand claps, harmonica, horns, wah-wah, breezy melodies and heavy soul grooves come together with nimble exuberance.
Lead singer Guilherme Saldanha proves himself capable of flowing like Caetano and Gilberto on the cuts “Ela” and “Banho de Bucha.” On the lovely acoustic closer, “Sunday Night Blues,” Irina Bertolucci lays off her Clavinets and organs to softly sing the album off into the sunset. Despite Garotas Suecas’s desire to touch every foundational stone in Brazilian popular music, the results are never spread too thin. The group dubs this American tour a “Brazilian Invasion.” We wave a white flag.
