PEZ

Argentinian music has always been welcome here in my country, mostly those rock bands post-90s, acts that have nothing to do with prog, anyway, life is full of surprises and I can say there are a few Mexican fans of Pez, this prog rock band with alternative and heavy rock touches that has been on the scene since the 90s. I have listened to two of their albums, and I can say they are a good band, with time to compose and prepare forthcoming records. "Volviendo a las cavernas" is their latest studio album, which features eleven songs and a total time of 43 minutes.

It opens with "De cómo el hombre perdió" which is a heavy rock song, a powerful introduction to the álbum because since the first seconds we can appreciate an explosive sound, a solid structure. Just before the first minute the voice appears (in Spanish) and the music keeps the same rhythm. Later there are some changes, however the essence is never lost. "Lo interesante es por afuera" follows that vertiginous rhythm, and though the progressive rock in moments might not be that evident, it does exist. Here I like the keyboards as background, while drums and strings put the inherent power, of course, complemented by the voice.

"¿Y ahora de qué vamos a hablar? Passes the six minute barrier, being the longest song of the álbum. I like the lyrics and the vocals of both singers together, they sound pretty good; the heavy prog sound is always present, the guitar speaks for itself. After 2:20 there is a nice change, it slows down and shares a curious interlude, then the structure is being built again, with a cool and long guitar solo accompanied by an organ and drums that put a kind of fusion-esque style. "Cavernas" is a shorter but good track, with the same intensity than the previous ones, and with a nice instrumental passage where electric piano puts its grain of sand; then it explodes again, gives a guitar riff, and finishes heavy, as usual.

"El motivo" is the shortest song of the album, and it has some even more intense moments, where one of the singers screams, so if you have some rage inside, you can release it here. "Aferrándonos desesperadamente a lo poco bueno que queda" has cadency and softness, it starts with delicate drums and an organ that produce a delicious rhythm, then bass and vocals join and together produce a jazzy tune that contrasts with the songs that the album had previously offered, but wait a second, because after three minutes the music explodes,creating a heavy sound with some guitar riffs and a powerful ending. This is one of the album's highlights in my opinion!

"Seremos recuerdo" is a nice rockier track with a not so complex structure, but with the same energy than the past songs. This may be the single, or at least I would play it on a radio station. "Confrontación" follows with the same essence, however here what I would highlight is the use of keyboards as a more prominent instrument, it has a solo and also it produces some spacey effects as background while the mood is smooth and softer. "La última semilla" is another longer track, with nice use of keyboards but better explosion of drums and strings, though the sound is heavy, they bring a cool mood with some bright moments.

The album finishes with a couple of short tracks. First "El idiota" which has an splendid structure with that great heavy sound blend with some jazzy organ and some short changes, man, the energy these guys share is awesome. And second "Y por ahí escuché decir que aún existe ese lugar donde todavía hay humanos" which is an ironic title, full of criticism and hope at the same time. The music is alike to the other songs, a nice way to finish this great album.

If you like music full of energy and want to be irradiated by it, please do not hesitate and get this one, you will not regret. My final grade wll be four stars.

Enjoy it!

The third album from Pez and the band returns to a simplified punk based style.

Punk is not the correct label on the music Pez delivers here. Yes, it is simple, primitive aggressive music. But it very much fits the heavy metal segment. Heavy metal light though because it is obvious Pez tries to go down the power pop route here. The likes of Blink 182 has dominated this segment so far.

The sound on this album is excellent and the musicians is also doing a great job. The music on this album is simple and will be shunned as in hopeless and the opposite of progressive rock. Which it is. But it is not Christmas turkey material, this album. The band knows how to play and there are some pretty intricate structures here too. The vocals is pretty bad though as they were on the first Pez albums. The lack of any good songs is also a major problem here. But this album is still not a flippy flappy flaming turkey though. It is actually a decent album. And it is also a free download album. Not so bad deal after all.

2 stars

Pez returns with the follow up to their pretty dismal debut album.

Somewhere down the line, Pez became a very good progressive rock combo. That is well after they released this album though. An album filled to the brim with neo hard rock with a lot of references to Rush, Primus and King's X. That is, a bit stripped down version of Primus. The emphasis is still on punk and new wave. But a lot better song structures and some very good use of a half acoustic guitars has done wonders for this band. The sound is also very good and the vocals are good too. I have no problems at all with the Spanish vocals. They are in fact one of the best things about this album. It gives this album a large chunk of authenticity. A good thing in my book.

The negative thing is the music in short. Both the style and the lack of any good songs. But this is still a decent album and it is also a free download together with their other albums. Downloads I recommend.

2 stars

First act (of three) in the Prog scene for this "cult" Argentinean band. Regarded by the critics as one of the finest band in the music scene of Argentina, they are pretty unknown for the majority (although they gained certain recognition when Ariel Minimal -lead vocalist and guitarist- joined Los Fabulosos Cadillacs for two records). If you like your prog loud, you can't go wrong with this album. Great tunes (I have a high opinion of the next two albums by the band too). Great riffs (I love the intro riff for "Viento Destino en Vidamar"), really good keybords, flutes and saxs here and there, good touches of jazz and tango (specially how Ariel sings, e.g., "El Cantor") and some references to Argentinean music of the 70s, it was a great surprise when I first bought this disc. I highly recommend this album, you won't regret it.

The debut album from this band from Argentina.

An album released in 1994. It sounds like 1994 because it has soaked up the sounds from that era. The opening track sounds like Rush anno Fly By Night. And there is a lot of early Rush on this album. But the likes of Nirvana, the grunge band led by Kurt Cobain, and Soundgarden also shines through. A bit what today is called post rock also shines through. Most of all, the band sounds like something that has crashed through the door. In full flight that is. Pez makes a lot of noise on this album and very little of this noise has any structure, let alone meaning. The guitar solos are unstructured. The vocals pretty horrible. The bass and drums hangs around and is very loose. In short; this is not an album I want to listen to again to be honest. The album is a free download from their homepage so feel free to discover it yourself.

1.75 stars

Wow, there are some really great legally free download albums around.

Those of you hit by the taxman, steep fuel bills, veterinary bills and other bills; do not despair. This free download album will cheer you up + give you a big smile (don't forget to review it too !).

I did interview Pez some fullmoons ago. This Argentine band is very original and their music is a bit special too. First off all; this album makes a heck of a noise. That is; the sound is excellent and so is the musicianship plus vocals. But some of the music here is noisy like in punkish heavy. The music is most definate on the heavy side, yes. But there is also a heck of a lot small details here too. Style wise, it is pretty evident that this band comes from South America. There are some salsa and Latin-American rhythms here. The Spanish vocals also gives this band their own identity. The music is steeped in rock and punk though. The Hammond organs hammers in a lot of prog and heavy prog stuff too. The drummer sometimes believe he is playing jazz. In fact; he is sometimes playing jazz over some heavy prog songs. Fantastic !

In short; this is a noisy album full of life. I am missing some really great songs here. But you cannot go wrong with a free download like this. This album can make anyone's day brighter.

3.75 stars

b****** !!!!!!!!

4 stars

If I judge from this album only, as it is the only one I've heard from these senores from Argentina, I could say that Pez are one of those contemporary groups that incorporate indie, folk, psych, jazz, art and hard rock elements in order to create an amalgam of beautiful modern progressive rock music. I am sorry that I don't know spanish, but I can only guess that their lyrics must be about nostalgia, social matters, soul-searching or stories with bitter end. Although vocals are not extraordinary, the guitar lines are great, there are brilliant keyboard solo moments, nice spacey parts, strong, solid rhythm section and a production that provides a good rock sound. They are moments while listening to "Folklore", that my mind spontaneously goes to Motorpsycho's "Child Of The Future" or "Little Lucid Moments" albums. An honest example of 21st Century's good music...

This is quite an incomprehensible step backwards.

This is my tenth review of this band who started their career in the middle nineties playing some heavy / punk rock which had little to do with prog actually. The band changed their musical direction in 2001 with "Convivencia Sagrada" and reached their peak with the excellent "Folklore".

When one listens to the opening number, here the feel of their debuts fills your ears, unfortunately. A real shame actually! Gone is the prog they have produced the last five albums and back are the weird sounds.

A track as "Refugio" is the only one that can be considered as a fine piece of music: elegant vocals and good music.

If you want ever to listen to some sort of a Spanish version of "The Clash" or "The Saints", I strongly recommend you "Quiebran". Nice punk, but what else??? In the same mood is "Eyéctenlo" (kick him out). That's what they should deserve?

This album is very short (thirty-five minutes), which is a positive point under these circumstances. I don't dislike punk (on the contrary) but I wouldn't have expected "Pez" to go back to their roots after some fifteen years.

On a webpage from an Argentinean site, one can read that this album was recorded in two sessions: no miracle! Even if the rock ballad "Alada" is another good song (but with a terrible production).

"Volverán" sounds vaguely like a "Stranglers" song ("Sometimes" comes to my mind) thanks to some organ work probably. But this one is loudly and little attractive (especially during the middle instrumental section). And the closing "Sueño" is no better.

This album is a huge disappointment. Three out of ten should be the rate. The title "El Porvenir" means : the future. I hope they'll do better next time.

This Argentinean band switched from early heavy/punk music ("Cabeza" or "Quemado") to a full prog band with their very good "Folklore" album which is IMHHO the best they have produced so far.

This one is quite hectic and tries to mix both ingredients which is quite difficult. I like both genres, but I have not known any band who could deliver these antipodes during the same album .

With "Los Orfebres", it sounds as if they deadly are looking forward to a combination of both of these styles on the same album. Needless to say that these genres don't mix too well (although I love them both).

On the prog side, the stress is definitely on the Crimson side ("Último Acto"). A dark penetration into some gloomy world. But there aren't so much genius out here (would you believe!).

The whole album is a example of skilled forces, genuine technical abilities, and even decent vocal parts to add some Latin flavour. The whole being mixed with a serious jazz feel (you might know that this is NOT my fave type of music).

IMO, this album is more of the calibre of "Convivencia Sagrada" than their very good "Folklore". Having said this, it also means that we are very far from their useless first three albums. This one holds some very fine moments: just listen to the great guitar solo from "Ni Discos De Bob" to be convinced.

The band doesn't forget its heavy roots and displays some very good intro during "Salvages". Almost "Kansas". Just great. As long as the vocals don't start?With those ones in mind, the story is just different?Which means weak.

This album is again a severe collection of heavy tunes. The instrumental "Alejandro Jodorowsky" only sits here to make impression. But who is impressed? I ain't for sure.

With this work, the band reverts to its demons (without any wizards). This is just plain and heavy Spanish music. If you like this style, I can only recommend you to the great "Ñu" for which I have posted lots of reviews.

"Los Orfebres" only ranks average on my musical scale. The attempt of a heavy Spanish Sabbath during "Acelera Sus Latidos" doesn't belong to their best for sure. But none of the songs featured on "Los Orfebres" comes close to this concept. Even if the closing "Existencialismo" is quite decent. It should have remained a pure instrumental though. The complaining vocals are just useless IMO.

Two stars. No more.

"Pez" entered the prog music world with their fifth album "Conviviencia Sagrada" and IMHHO the quality of their music peaked with their prior release to this one: "Folklore".

"Hoy" (today), is their eighth work and sounds much more pop than any other ones. The music is straight-forward, melodic ("Betie Al Desierto", " Difícil De Conseguir") and features plenty of keys. The core trio of the debut has now been added a stable keyboard player (Pepo Limeres) who is still in charge today.

As on several of their previous albums, a few guests are adding a nice touch to the "Pez" music (chords mainly). It is obvious that "Hoy" is not as interesting as "Folklore". This bunch of songs have not so much to offer but a couple of nice ballads which are pleasant to listen to ("A Buscar", "Hoy") which severely contrasts with the music offered by the band during their first four releases (heavy rock to punk).

The Crimson influence shown on their previous three albums seems to be past history. This is a more tranquil work which is not bad to listen to but at the same time it offers few grand moments. Easy listening music for the majority of the songs. Still, it is much better than their early releases and should please anyone who is looking to a very accessible prog adventure (à la Kayak or alike).

Some "Kansas" sound during the excellent "El Viaje" (the violin is of course not alien to this feeling). It is probably one of the best song available here. The longest track "Al Espacio" is also a good piece of music: a languish heavy and emotional blues track. Passionate vocals and fine keys work are the best ingredients available. Another highlight.

The jazzy mood is not forgotten either "Romevientos", "Melodias Sanadoras" or "La Verdad" are sweet jazz ballads which conveys this tranquil feel to this work. The latter being somewhat heavier during the instrumental section. Some more of a rocking number is still available with the good "La Sin Nombre" (the one with no name). Finally some fine guitar break!

A good album after all.