INJURIAS

Así Somos is a Puertorican group that mixes Progressive Rock with various styles like salsa, rumba, Puertorican folk music, reggae, afro-caribbean jazz and others. If you guys already know something about Caribbean music you'll know how vivid, colorful and full of pride the music is and Así Somo reflects that perfectly. The interesting thing about all of this is that they play all of those different music styles in a Progressive Rock context so the music is more dynamic and demanding while still being accessible enough to even dance to it! (who said prog wasn't danceable?)

Like I previously said, Así Somos' music is very diverse and accessible. All of the songs have a different combination of styles in it. You'll be listening to Salsa at the beginning, then to a reggae beat and end up with a violin / sax solo by the end of the song. The music is also very organic and all the instruments played (except the 6-string bass) are acoustic which gives the music a Spring feeling. The songs all have a great sense of melody, complexity and feel that can be normally seen in traditional Prog bands. The lyrics tell us about different ideas and feelings like patriotism, nature, Puertorican culture and even a funny story about "uncultured beings" (aliens) going to Puerto Rico and then end up getting hooked on drugs, all of this is sang in a tongue-in-cheek fashion and with a Puertorican slang. The music is fairly bombastic in many places even though they mostly use acoustic instruments. The song that impressed me the most when talking about their bombastic sound is the end of "Injurias" which sounds as if the part of the song was taken out of a Van Der Graaf Generator song with David Jackson on the sax and everything!

Así Somos is a great cultural (and musical, of course) experience that fans of folk music and Prog from across the world might be interested in. The album may have needed a little bit of trimming and it would be even better, but still this is a great album to listen to. Prog fans with an eclectic taste will find great enjoyment on this album.

Almost 4 stars (3.8 , 3.9?)

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