We were still trapped in time after crossing that wormhole that they opened with “Guru” (19), under the trance of “The Weeds”, “Totomami” or hyper-hallucinogenic spells like “Think McFly” y “Jung’s Spectrum”, reaching some of the highest atmospheric density peaks of his career. And almost five years later, they reappear with their DeLorean and rescue us from that April fair in which we still found ourselves, from booth to booth, with the “King Boabdil” fed up with fine, crying for the Alhambra… We get on headfirst, accelerate and new journey towards a dystopian “Tropic”, close and futuristic, dreamlike and in high definition, fifth album by the Sevillians Pony Bravopossibly the most genuine, mutant and influential Andalusian band of the last three decades.
A dozen songs (recorded and mixed by Raúl Pérez in the La Mina studio) in which Daniel Alonso, Pablo Peña and Darío del Moral continue to exude that insatiable creative effervescence that has characterized them since their beginnings, delving into their own universe and expanding their personal and magnetic formula: from the most purely eighties and audiovisual synth wave to dance music, passing through lo-fi electronics and a lot of Andalusian power loaded with neon roots, African sounds, krautrock, punk funk and dub in vein. Everything is very agitated and with an extra highlight of exotic and space age pop to finish weaving the soundtrack of this new installment, with Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Yma Sumac and Arthur Lyman floating in the enveloping space daydreams that make us cross the mirror again and again, landing in the craziest Seville or the Gaza Strip, among electric sheep, “sick” androids and the Expo 92 Work by David Lynch, full of gazpacho and acid, staggering and dancing nearby of the Guadalquivir, with the full moon reflecting in the river and rotating like an immense mirror ball to the sensual rhythm of “Magic Feeling”.
The adventure of possible and impossible worlds begins with the desire for immortality of the most human replicant in “Roy Batty’s Dream” hypnotic instrumental that takes us from Blade Runner to falling in slow motion down the rabbit hole with Alicia and landing face-first in the Red Room, with the party prepared and Laura Palmer offering us, smiling, a glass of unidentified liquid. The exotic and resplendent mist makes its way and the Mayan culture welcomes us in the middle of a night of ritual and ecstasy contained in the Mouth of the well of the water sorcerers, a “Chichen Itza” industrial and disturbing, with a dub beat and phrases that echo among magical ruins and leave a mark: “He who destroys the most survives, / being mortal requires illusions, / being astral requires visions.” The seamless collage flows like the clear water that comes down from the mountain, with Pablo Peña’s bass and guitar triggering the pulsations, while Darío sets the rhythm and the synthesized rain falls on us, with lyrics full of Andalusian customs and Sevillian iconography, current affairs and critical humor trademark of the house: From the tantric “It’s Chic – It’s Good” which places us in an Holy Week in which, Thor’s hammer in hand, “Rain or no rain, the step comes out”with sharp verses that, between laughs, go to the center of the target, like “Mud tower, gold rush”, o “costalero creates your money”, and sometimes it is “better to have wifi than faith.” To move on to the neighbor of grooves, another of the essentials of the lot, “Piedra de Gaza”, with choruses and totally absorbing initial punk funk rhythms, again with exotic music and a rhythm that does not let you touch the ground, with clapping and keyboards that combine (as it could not be otherwise) the oriental and the Andalusian, with synths that sound coplero at times. “In the Gaza Strip / your destiny is to throw stones, / your destiny is stone… / If a soldier appears, he hits you on the head. / The touch of the stone sometimes consoles them”. Another lyric full of humanism and commitment, with that “pony bravery” DNA that rides incessantly, throwing tragic reality at us with explosive and danceable irony. “The noise of the drone can only be heard if it is close.”
Con “The old cross-eyed one”, rhythmic, exotic and disturbing instrumental, border and western at times, we approach the equator that marks “Jazmín de Megatrón”, raising the temperatures with pure funk, disco, flamenco phrases and a lot of parties, like those that the band organized together with a collective of friends, Megatron. Tribute with the aroma of spring and 80s/90s dance music, in which they remember some of their favorite artists, from ZA! to Betunizer or Fluzo. You will not be able to get out of your head that incessant “ephemeral, ephemeral… Turn it up!”, or Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid dancing and singing “give a party, polish a party.” Well, “I will stay in Megatron, / because there I have my beautiful love.”
Side B begins at a slow burn with the expansive darkness and surreal humor of “Inner kingdoms”asking for understanding and giving advice so that that third eye is healthy and operational: “moisten, let it grow / and always keep it away from direct light”; the night continues in the familiar territories (it is impossible not to remember that primal hymn, “The Forest Ranger”) of that “long night” we don’t know what will be in “Mountain and forest”with a rhythm almost like a holy week march with extra flow, halfway between the exotic and the ghostly. “How happy I was, when you remembered me”. Of the disco-soul sensuality of the already mentioned “Magic Feeling”, in which we flow and sway automatically, to the last fragment of “soundtrack” with extra exotic sounds and unsettling chants, layers and layers of sound environments that seem to take us into a futuristic jungle where the “First settlers” They watch us without us realizing it. Lysergic eclecticism continues its course and closes this outstanding fifth installment with the resplendent and twilight “Linda”with an aftertaste of back-and-forth songs, and “Exact reflection”a piece with an enchanted aura and a direct nod to the series “Black Mirror”with that addictive phrasing that contains the title of the work: “dystopian future takes you away from the Tropics.” Tomorrow may not be very hopeful, but if it comes, may it catch us dancing or climbing a palm tree (like the boy on the cover) to the music of Pony Bravo playing without pause in the background.