Balistica
Promise Land (CardinalZen)
Rock en Espanol’s musical paella, a mouthwatering mulch of native North, South, and Central American styles (often Euro-spiced), is only as delectable as the exuberance of its server. In both respects, Austin is well represented by Balistica, whose versatile barrage of stabbing guitar and double bass, fattened with electronics and pounded by percussion, is a shoo-in to open Café Tacuba’s next local feast. Promise Land integrates this instrumental mélange further, expanding on the sextet’s 2004 debut, The Jungle Science EP, yet in doing so leaves its Achilles’ heel doubly exposed. Whether in English (Sean Tate), or en Espanol (Sergio Carvajal), Balistica’s group vocals seldom rise above hooligan chants (“Tilt? (The Empire State Song) “), or a screamo yowl bordering on nü metal. The gravitas intro to “Like a Monkey,” gorilla bass and capuchin guitars, skitters at first like a savvy instrumental before its chanting refrain, “It don’t matter what your animal says,” evokes Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” It’s big-game Balistica at its best, guitarist Enrique Rumiche the headhunter. They haul out Oingo Boingo for “Cut Through” and “Hard to Swallow,” the latter undercut by its vocalizations. “Here in the Morning” lowers the volume nicely, but again, its unsweetened croon undercuts its Promise Land.
This article appears in July 7 • 2006.
