¿BICHOS=DICHOS?

Before their fabulous sohpomore release "Cuentos Para Dormir', Chilean band Ábrete Gandul has a different line-up and bore a different musical direction, mostly signalled by the peculiar vision of guitarist-vocalist Doctor Octava. His eclectic melting pot of hard rock, semi-Crimsonian prog, psychedelia, pop and fusion was the focal point of the repertoire wefind in "¿Bichos = Dichos?", and the singing style showed a tota laccord with it - humorous, satyrical, funny in a surrealistic manner. In perspective, this work is not that cohesive, but it certainly reveals a boldness to expand the language of rock and enough talent to see it through with a convincing degree of success. The eponymous track opens up the album as some sort of light-hearted Primus: that is, a motif developed between comedy and cabaret moods, which is performed with a Crimsonian twist and whose lyrics deconstruct popular proverbs. I interpret this as a counter-cultural manifesto, but well, that's just me. 'Quiero Apagarte' is a pop ballad bathed in bluesy perfurmes - the final expansion finds teh band goign to jazzy realms, adding some ethereal sonorities while at it. 'Hay que Volver a los Chinos' is the first version of a track that will reappear in the second album: this first version doesn't bear as much power, but it surely displays a clever mixture of jazz- rock and psychedelia, as inherently demanded by the track's own compositional nucleus. 'Gracias Niños' returns to the humorous debuachery that had prior been exposed in the opener, delivering a sort of Zappaesque ambiences through a mostly poppish basis. A similar thing we will find later on 'Alarmadilla', albeit with a more complex set of mood and rhythm shifts. 'Estamos de Suerte' is more focused on decidedly progressive realms, bearing a confluence of psychedelia, avant-garde jazz and free-form: the flute is featured notably, contributing mainly pastoral sounds a-la Van Leer while the lead guitar states Barrett-like spacey flows. Wow!! 'Quiero Apagarte' returns as a live rendition, with a more muscular vibe. 'Procesión' is another example of the progressive element that the band would eventually emphasize more deeply: in the context of this debut album, 'Procesión' offers a challenging mixture of space-rock and free-jazz in a very distturbing way (and I mean it in a positive way). Just when the whole ensemble sets a recognizable framework, the track's mood becomes ethereal and lyrical - it is a pity that this song isn't longer. La Matadera' closes down the album on a melancholic note, as if teh singer feared a fatal end: indeed, it is an efefctive elegy. This is how this album ends: it is a work full of surprises, interesting variations, a work full of appealing promises of prog rock that ultimately were capitalized by the band for their second release... but that is a mater for another review.