Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes (1968) Review
Os Mutantes was formed in the 1960s in San Paulo, Brazil and originally comprised of two brothers, Arnaldo and Sergio Baptista, as well as local musician, Rita Lee. The band was considered radical and highly critical of the Brazilian dictatorship established in the mid-1960s. Os Mutantes used a combination of influences from some of the great psychedelic bands of the 60s, like The Beatles and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, to Tropicalia and bossa nova.
This album has a pretty strong legacy, especially in Brazil, but has also been cited as an influence by many great musicians including The Talking Heads, Kurt Cobain, and The Flaming Lips. I don’t speak Portuguese so I had to read translated lyrics but there is a cohesive sound and theme though it is not quite a complete concept album.
The album begins with “Panis et Circenses” (Bread and Circuses) and it is immediately reminiscent of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This has darker lyrics than Sgt. Pepper’s but they increase the fuzz guitar tones and whimsical aspects. The insanely buzzy and sharp, electric fuzz throughout this album is one of my favorite parts. I love the warping and cuts into new sections of this song. Each part is satisfying and serves as a great introduction to the psychedelia this album is all about.
The next song is incredible and one of my favorite songs from the 1960s, “ A Minha Menina.” This is a perfect psychedelic rock song. The guitar tone is absolutely the best part of the song, I tried to find ways to replicate it until I found out that the bassist for Fu Manchu makes pedals that emulate this tone fairly well. The way that the guitar cuts through the mix is amazing. This song is a great combination of psych-pop with a Tropicalia-style groove. The vocals align very well with the track and the backing vocals are also great. If you only listen to one song make it this one especially if you like psychedelic rock and pop.
Track three is “O Relogio” (The Watch) and Rita Lee’s vocals are amazing on it. The first section of the song is ethereal and dreamy psychedelia while the second section of the song switches into full psych-pop. This song gives me a feeling that Melody’s Echo Chamber could have been inspired by it because this is similar to what her debut sounds like especially the vocals and drumming.
“Adeus Maria Fulo” (Goodbye Maria Fulo) is probably my least favorite song on the album. It is fairly experimental and has parts in it that remind me of the wacky and weird parts of Ariel Pink's albums. Sometimes this type of concept is done well but it falls a little flat for me on this song. The instrumental sounds like it could soundtrack a Donkey Kong game or something. Song five is “Baby” and I enjoy this song. Like with most of these songs, the guitar just shines but this one also had a nice organ that mixes well with everything. This is a sweet song and solid.
“Sehnor F” (Mister F) is the most whimsical psych-pop song on this self-titled album. This is the most Beatles-inspired song on the album. It is a song that is completely enamored with the Sgt. Pepper era sound down to the “Strawberry Fields Forever” style takeout outro. If you like Revolver, Sgt Peppers, or Magical Mystery Tour, you’ll like this one.
“Bat Macumba” is a groovy song. This song has a wild and dirty-sounding guitar and it's so modulated it almost sounds like a synthesizer. Thumbs up. “Le premiere bonheur du jour” (The First Happiness of the Day) has Lee on vocals and the songs where she sings lead are insanely psychedelic lower-tempo songs. I like how this song is structured and especially the outro. The recorder is a cool addition to the song. This song is ominous and kind of Grace Slick-ish.
“Trem Fantusma”(The Ghost Train) is a pretty decent 1960s psych-pop song. This is a song where I wish the recording was better because some of the production would shine better. I enjoy Lee’s backing vocals on this song.
The second to last song on the album is “Tempo no Tempo (Once Was a Time I Thought)” and this is a song I wish was longer since it is the shortest song on the album at 1 minute and 49 seconds. The vocal cadence and melody are super cool. The lyrics are dark and reminiscent of Jim Morrison which complements specifically compliments the bells ringing at the end of the song.
The final song on the album is “Ave Genghis Khan” and it has a dirtier and heavier sound with some 1950s Rock n Roll, experimental Beatles, and some jazz influences. This album ends on arguably its most psychedelic song and it is another one of my favorites on the record.
With the exception of“Adeus Maria Fulo” (which is sometimes a skip for me), I enjoy pretty much everything this album offers. I do wish some of the audio recording and production was a little better/cleaner, however, it sounds fine just not excellent. More people should listen to this album because it is incredibly influential, even though it feels forgotten since no one ever seems to talk about it. This is a great debut with lots of creativity in its production, especially for the time.
8/10 - Great