Puta Madre Brothers - Queso y Cojones

The Puta Madre Brothers are a phenomenal live band. They are two guitarists and a bass player, each with their own drum kit (they call themselves one-man-band triplets) but if you had your back to the stage, you would swear that they were a five piece. Between the three of them, they make a hell of a racket stomping on their kick drums, and bashing the cymbals with their guitars and various body parts. They somehow manage to do this and keep good time while strumming mariachi rhythms and picking out wild surf licks that swim in reverb.

There’s nothing delicate about their performances. They are high kilojoule, deep fried burrito with extra cheese, sock you in the guts shows, but their tunes are highly danceable and guaranteed to get a crowd moving. The challenge then to capture this wild energy is a huge one, but the Puta Madre Brothers have somehow managed to pull it off. Queso y Cojones (cheese and balls), bottles their unique Mexican-Australian garage power like a good strong tequila. They’ve gone for a Lo Fi approach, which gives the songs a spontaneous, live feeling but they aren’t so raw as to be unlistenable. Their sound is Dick Dale meets Enrico Morricone with a Stooges garage aesthetic. Something that would sit perfectly in the next Tarantino movie (Quentin I hope you’re reading this). It really works!

I’m not sure if they have any Mexican blood (how does Melbourne breed these weird and wonderful artists) but they have at least taken beginners español. They sing some pretty authentic Spanish on the few songs that have vocals. In between the music there are samples of Spanish voices from movies and tv shows, which add a trashy, playful element to the album and give the listener a short repose from the relentless riffing.

It’s pretty exhausting getting through the whole 12 tracks on the album but Putannany Twist, One Legged Horse Race and El Toro Bravo are definitely must haves on your party shuffle.