Who Gave You Permission: Reviews Of Recent Releases By Local Bands, Pt. 141

Mezclado - ¡Sepa La Bola! / Who Knows! - self-released - 8 songs - cassette, digital

No sophomore slump for Mezclado! Perhaps I was primed to like this tape because I’ve heard them doing this material live for the past year or so, but hey, it’s a good tape regardless. “American Communion,” which starts things off here, is a good indie psych tune with a slightly menacing vibe. It’s appropriately noisy with a great chorus and lots of good guitars. Wyatt (one of the band’s three frontpeople and the one who sings this song) also takes the lead on “Record & Rewind” which kicks off the second side and shares with “American Communion” that sort of ominous mood— that’s not to say the two songs are samey, though, because they’re not, they’re just both good songs that share that vibe. “Rocket Man” is a great garage-y punk song that Joe (the next Mezclado member to step up to the mic here) really yells. I think he’s saying, “Watch out, it’s the big cheese coming!” though I am not 100 percent certain. Nico (the third Mezclado singer to appear on this tape and the one who sings the most songs) comes through on “Narcoleptico” with a punk track to rival “Fed Up” from the first album— it’s a very good track (“Muerte,” on side two, is also a good punk track). I also quite enjoyed the alt-psych jammer “Disillusion Man,” which I think is spiritual kin to the previous record’s “Sunday Dread” (perhaps it’s a similar disaffected vocal style from Nico). Something about it, as someone (hi, Nathan) pointed out at the release show, is certainly influenced by Neil Young. At the same time, it doesn’t really sound like Neil, there’s just a Neil sort of feeling (Billy Talbot would never play a bass line like that). The tape closes with two tracks that I think sort of sum up all of Mezclado’s strengths: “Spit On Me,” which is largely a slower reverb and guitar-heavy psych number (and also has an ominous atmosphere— perhaps that’s just the times), does a cool rest moment before jamming out into the coda, which then speeds up massively. Everyone knows I like songs that speed up! Finally, there’s “Ya Me Voy,” which is Mezclado at their most musically Latin, but never loses the psychedelic mood nor some of the punk aggression (and there’s lots of great guitar on this one, too). Overall, I think this album is really good. It’s a solid collection of songs and I think it captures some of their live energy slightly better than the last album. If you’re not into Mezclado yet, perhaps now is the time. Who knows! 4/5

(available on streaming platforms; maybe hit up the band for a tape?)

Are you a local-ish band? Do you have a record out? Email [email protected] or send it directly to the Observer: PO Box 770203, Lakewood, OH 44107.