Bonde Do Role
Bonde Do Role With Lasers
Domino
Describing Bonde Do Role is tricky. Theirs’ is a brand of ‘baile funk’, originating from Brazilian ghettos as espoused by current indie darlings CSS. Describing ‘baile funk’ is also tricky. Perhaps it is easier to utilise the words of Pedro D'eyrot, one of Bonde Do Role’s MCs. He explains that ‘baile funk is “like hip hop gone punk. We have a word for it in Portuguese which is ‘rebola’ and it means dancing with your hips. Basically, it’s booty music with people screaming over it and lots of energy.” That’s about it, and very catchy it is too.
‘With Lasers’ is an album influenced by a list of genres as long as your arm. D’eyrot says that it is like ‘digging through the garbage in Brazil and using the pieces to make a club mess’. By my reckoning this must mean that the bins in Brazil do not just contain household waste and beer cans but a myriad of different vibrant sounds. There are pre-grunge guitar riffs, beloved of air guitarists Bill and Ted, galore. There are chants that remind me of primary school skipping games the girls used to play. Mix these in with rhythms that could shake Brazilian football stadiums and beats that shake the bootys of Carnival dancers. Throw in some samples lifted from obscure Latin American cartoons and sound effects resurrected from some long forgotten Super NES or Sega Megadrive games. Amongst all this supposed garbage will also be found synth loops associated with provincial German discos circa 1987, Portuguese cheerleading and some primitive rapping. It’s a hell of a mixture which leaves quite a cluttered sound. Clutter can be bad buts it’s more akin to a second hand shop full of gems rather than the contents of a Granny’s house clearance.
The whole mixture is held together by the MCing which is of the primitive variety reminiscent of the 80’s when everyone from Blondie to John Barnes tried their hand at rapping. The fact that it is delivered in Portuguese gives it an exotic and beguiling air which the lyrics may not warrant. The female MC sounds a bit like Black Eyed Fergie but as she’s singing in a foreign language I’m not quite put off by her rhymes which could just be about London Bridges and Lady Lumps for all I know. When she throws in a few grunts, groans and sex noises here and there it all becomes more alluring than inane.
All in all Bonde do Role’s debut album does have something of a disposable feel to it – much like the contents of a Brazilian bin no doubt – but like a cheap toy its fun for now. The album is full of infectious energy and insistent beats that’ll get you in the mood for dancing with your hips. Sophisticated it is not but then who cares? Pedro D’eyrot doesn’t. “For us it's all about the fun, and if it's not fun it's not worth doing. People can think whatever they like about us, but I'd like them to listen to Bonde Do Role in 10-15 years' time and laugh their asses off.” He’s probably right, we probably will laugh in 15 months let alone 15 years. But for now I hazard a guess they’d be worth seeing live and you might just well play this at every party you host this summer, shaking your booty with people screaming over the top.
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28th Jun 2007 - Tumblr
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