Entrega Tu Espíritu, Fother MuckersIndependiente, Chile
Rating: 79
by Andrew Casillas
The demise of Fother Muckers seems deceptively bittersweet in many fashions. For one, they aren’t exactly going away—the band has already announced plans to reassemble under the moniker Los Ases Falsos. As for lamenting their musical legacy…well, they hadn’t really built a substantial one. While they were certainly active in their time, releasing nine proper albums and EPs, they weren’t going out in some Relationship of Command-like last gasp. Fother Muckers was a good band that was getting progressively and measurably better but never quite hit that ceiling. It’s sad that this incarnation of the band is quitting while they’re ahead, but they aren’t exactly going away or squandering their potential.
In that context, Entrega Tu Espíritu serves as a proper denouement to the Fother Muckers era, while slotting neatly into the band’s musical progression. The end-of-the-world vocals, the witty lyrics, the classic rock posture—the aesthetics are rote and familiar. But this record also packs in the most professional work in their catalog. For example, the way the vocal harmonies and laid-back blues sound in “Madre del Mundo” effortlessly come together. It’s the sort of flippant ease that lesser bands spend decades trying to cultivate and yet exactly what you’d come to expect from these guys.
In a pleasant surprise, Fother Muckers have finally learned how to craft a proper pop song. “Alzad las Manos” takes a faux-Caribbean guitar lick and ska vocal and plays the entire thing straight, crafting another winner for your late-summer party mixtapes. Indeed, it’s this sort of attitude that exudes itself through the album. “Dios Esta Aqui” ends the Fother Muckers chapter on a proper note. The song reflects much of what gravitated others towards the band—nothing flashy, nothing exaggerated, but still charismatic and delightful. And while not every song on this EP is an outright winner, it’s an almost-great ending to an almost-great band. And it’ll definitely leave you excited for whatever they come up with next.