Portastatic
De Mel, De Melão EP
[Merge]
Rating: 7.9
Bless globalization. On Portastatic's delicious new EP, Superchunk's Mac McCaughan takes cues
from Brazil's tropicalia new wave of the late '60s, who at the time were taking cues from the
acid and pop movements of America and England. And now, thirty years later, college kids can
interpret the lyrics with help of online translation engines as they sit in an Internet café
munching on cashew satay sticks. Portastatic's homage to the fuzzed-out Brazilian pop of the
peace era borrows heavily from the trippy sounds of Os Mutantes in particular. McCaughan flecks
Gilberto Gil's "Lamento Sertanejo" with scratchy guitar leads mimicking the Mutantes' "A Minha
Menina," originally a Jorge Ben number. It's this mix of tribute and bastardization that gives
the genre playful flavor and soul, and McCaughan sounds well studied and infatuated.
Caetano Veloso's "Baby," another song covered by the Mutantes on their debut, simply stands as
one of the greatest songs ever by one of the greatest songwriters ever. Impossible to ruin,
"Baby" even receives one of its greatest versions here. Plunking double bass bops the tune
along. Soft, cherubic keyboard subtly melt over the chorus. Slow trombone and wah-juiced
guitar inflect a dreamy, gooey mood. It's reassuring to know that the modest lyrics of "Baby,
baby, I love you" still sound so knee-weakening. "I Fell in Love One Day," an English tune
from Mutante Arnaldo Baptista's 1982 solo album, extends the boat-on-a-river hallucinogenic
motif. A creepy speed-altered, double-tracked vocal lurks beneath the surface as lethargic
static- and reverb-laden snares splash along. On another Caetano Veloso cover, "Não
Identificado," Mac leaves the tale of admirer and wishes to professes his unrequited love for
flying saucers, and in "Anticomputador," odes in the native Portugese, as with the majority of
the EP.
Joyce's "Clareana" closes the too-short foray in Bahian romance with programmed samba rhythms
and more horn. Mac's trademark boyish soprano grants these tunes an ideal naivety and
androgynous passion. Certainly some of the native shuffle and boogie is missing, as to be
expected from a Chapel Hill fellow, but De Mel, De Melão remains a freshing and
successful love-affair with some of the greatest music of the 20th Century. Time will tell
if this will rub off on Superchunk.
-Brent DiCrescenzo