SERÚ GIRÁN

Prog in Latin America is quite deep, to where you can arguably find bands from now and from the past, some of which create some well known prog albums that are still well regarded to this day. You can find groups like Crucis and Invisible that show off a symphonically enriched prog landscape. Bubu and La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros who give off a more jazzy prog outlook. And, on today's subject, Serú Girán, who takes you on a progressive pop rock side of the olden days of the late 70s.

Serú Girán is a band that came from the remnants of La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, with Charly Garcia and Oscar Moro from that band, as well as David Lebon, and Pedro Aznar of Alas and Pat Metheny Group, making this band kind of a supergroup in a way. That said, I noticed some people not quite agreeing with the connotations of this band being considered prog rock. Heck some go as far as saying they aren't prog at all, but make no mistake, while they may not be as progressively inclined as ELP or Uriah Heep, if you put them next to bands like Alan Parsons Project, ELO, or Klaatu, bands which I coin as progressive pop rock, then you'll see they are quite proggy in that aspect.

Well let's talk less about Serú Girán and more about?Serú Girán, their debut album.

Now I am gonna say something that may be a hot take, but this is my favorite album from the band, so far as of writing this. I do not think it is a full on masterpiece, but in my listening of their discography, compared to the two albums I have heard from them so far (Grasa de las capitales and Peperina), this album ranks above those as my favorite.

The music here is both very pastoral and almost nature-like, with some elements that make it have this almost urban edge to it. I really like the sound this album exudes, mainly due to this balance between a more classically entwined prog rock sound, with this funk rock and jazz pop essence that makes this both a very complex, but also a rather fun poppy time, and one that I like a lot. I think the track that perfectly showcases this intertwining of romantic classical natures with the more modern pop sound of the time has to be the first one, being Eiti-Leda, which is my favorite track off the album. Such a beautiful track by the way, definitely a good way to start the album.

I will also go out on a limb and say this album's sound is also oddly city pop-esque. I wouldn't say it is 100% city pop since that genre is more of a Japanese thing, not an Argentinian thing, but tracks like Autos Jets Aviones Barcos, and or Serú Girán have moments that make me feel like I am listening to a Masayoshi Takanaka or Yuji Ohno song, which I think is really cool, since I really like city pop. Seriously, if you like the music Serú Girán is putting out, check out Taeko Ohnuki's Sunshower, you'll thank me later.

City pop aside, there are things that kinda irk me about this album, namely the length of the album, and in conjunction the track listing. This album feels too short for me. Obviously I am not really expecting an hour worth of music with like 4 tracks that are 15-20 minutes long, each with multiple passages, nor am I opposed to the shorter tracks we got here, but I feel like there should've been more. I guess in that respect their later albums are better, but still I kinda wished there were a bit more songs, maybe bumping this album to be around 40 minutes. On the flipside though, I guess that means I really like the album enough to ask for some more music after the fact.

I also think the track listing could do some work, in more of how top heavy this album feels. The B-side tracks are pretty good, but compared to songs like El Mendigo en el Anden and Seperata, they kinda fall short from being truly amazing, especially with such a bizarrely weird and kinda bad ending like Cosmigonon. These faults do not quite break this album for me, in fact I still really adore it, but I cannot deny these things do not at least make me raise an eyebrow on occasion.

If you want some high quality prog pop rock, similar to ELO or The Moody Blues, or wanna check out what some of the guys over at La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros did after disbanding, then it is worth checking out this album, and especially this band. You'll be surprised with the charm and beauty this album has, trust me.