CUU LP, SR. AMABLEDelhotel Records, Mexico
Rating: 79
By Jean-Stephane Beriot
The project of Andres Murillo gives continuation to the very pleasing EP Senor Amable Was Here, this time he steps away from the charming vowels of “Gary (ewewew)” and amplifies a dazzling line of songs that are anything but charming, seems like he’s trying to kill the kid inside him, or even more interesting, somebody else taking that away from him. Mr. Amable finds himself in a country with riveting violence, this demands bolder musical passages and for the most part the album delivers such force. However, I miss some of that messier production from his EP, something our editor calls the demo-lished suspension, CUU sounds more industrialized but equally polished.
“Me Carfa” is a brutal piece to start a show, with lines like “se oyen balas en lugar de risas” or “no vemos diferencia entre narco y policia”, or how about “soy muy popular entre la gente triste.” One would think this guy is a pessimist or at least heartbroken, or both, truth is, he is just a perceiver transcoding his surrounding through very well textured bleak songs. Big props to producer Bul who adds yet another review on this site, “Pasa las armas Bul!”CUU is covered with excessive attachment, but finds virtue in this flaw to hide his already vulnerable voice which is so beautifully conveyed in “Para Blueshit.” This is one of the most beautiful tracks in the album so I did some research, turns out this is a requiem for Blueshit, a band I could barely stand to skim, very weird unhealthy stuff, ugly things inspire beautiful ones.
Despite having one of the coolest titles, “Tema official de la semana nacional de vacunacion” drowns in goofiness trying to critique Mexico City’s rock scene, the rap sequence is laughable and dumb; everything that could’ve gone wrong does go wrong even melodically. “Carrie’s Brain” is a spare song, totally unnecessary and easily boring. Aside from those two tracks CUU flourishes truly exciting minutes of music and speech, about guns and drug trafficking, schools and whatnot. Play close attention to the collaborations of two fonograma favorites, Monterrey’s weird kid Alexico and Monterrey’s most sober cantautor Mr. Racoon. Also, don’t miss the title song, it takes a while for it to sink in, but once it does, it’s hard not get chills, the perfect mediation for a post-everything set of songs. At the end, this is a very cool pop album, not an easy album but very gratifying on multiple hearings. “Soy muy lo-fi para culturizaaaar.”