VIDA BLUE

I shouldn't be, but was pleasantly surprised to see the band here on site. Encouraged a listen by my roommate, who'd seen them live just the other week. With the majority of their topmost tracks appearing herein, I figured I'd start here and do it proper. The smattering of their otherwise most popular material from before was certainly only somewhat illuminating--very minimal, unassuming tracks--until I heard "Eating Unblessed Meat" (love that) off 2020's Come & See, a quite lo-fi Noise Rock number with a forward-driving beat and stylistically-suitable yelling vocals. Approaching the end of this track, we enter into a groovy, lightly avant-jazzy second section. Noise is an area in which I find myself pretty ignorant, either leaving me scratching my head or amazed (the latter either positive or negative in nature, I'm sure even fans can understand). 4 years following that track is their most recent from this year, Vida Blue. Its cover art brought the John Zorn-Derek Bailey-George Lewis collaboration Yankees (1982) to mind; this may more or less be in my head, a conflation of two baseball-themed, old-timey-looking covers.

As their name is derived from Mamaluk, the Arabic plural for slave-soldier [I recall learning about this "mercenary" class from Age of Empires II when I was a kid, interestingly enough], a vaguely Arabesque air--not to be confused for the Turkish popular music genre, which I likewise recommend folks check out--underlies much of their music, as can be heard on the opener "Tegucigalpa". It must be the tonal choices used, but this light, echoing effect frequently enough heard on guitar feels sort of Post-Rock to my ears; certainly with such a vague label, nothing is out of the question. Funny to me, one of the first things I thought of, regarding the low, growling vocals used throughout the track, was "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd. A faint, ominous Mellotron rides beneath an infectious groove on "Vileness Slim"; this immediately pulled me in. It's a very chill sound, calling to mind perhaps the experimentation that was happening in Alternative Electronic music in the '90s, specifically with Downtempo. The meandering guitar collides sharply with keyboards and the otherwise steady drum beat.

Least orthodox thus far, we ironically(?) have our title track, "Vida Blue"; dissonant, eerie, vacillating in tension. It'll appeal to certain fans of modern Classical. Back into the groove, "Ancient Souls, No Longer Sorrowful" more prominently evokes the Mideast with a droning reed instrument that brings us on in; this is the first one in which I detected hallmarks of psychedelia (the dragging rhythm does much of the work). Really impressed with the guitar performance here. I would definitely credit Mamaleek with compositional know-how, their use of minimalism (here a singular, reverberating acoustic piano) being particularly impactful, not to mention beautiful. Back to handsome haunting on "Momentary Laughter Concealed From My Eyes", a short 2 minutes of church choir vocalizations and simple, brushing jazz drums.

Then onto the least appealing so far, "Black Pudding Served at the Horn of the Altar", a title I sincerely love (like most here). The vocals are just kinda silly to me, and the music provides me little satisfaction. The close is an apparent Doo-Wop sample; much as I am a Zappa-ite, not even this can save (no shocker). "Hatful of Rain" follows, another hypnotic rhythm, this time with bass most prominent. All in all, this one didn't do much for me, what with the strange vocal stylings, and it's sort of one-note, until about the midpoint. Approaching minute 4 is where this shift takes place, an opening up, a brightening of a dark song (a looming forward march only grows speedier, more unnerving). The drums are the best, most consistent component to Mamaleek to my ears.

Next is the lengthiest of the bunch, at over 10 minutes, "Legion of Bottom Deck Dealers". Low and slow, featuring a more-Eastern stringed instrument... I'm at a loss, though it sounds vaguely like a harp, and it sounds like stereotypical Chinese or Japanese traditional music (a koto?); it's a win. The lead guitar presented toward the beginning, buzzing and played with feeling, is reminiscent of Funk music, but also specifically called Todd Rundgren to my mind (I've been thinking of and listening to Todd a lot recently). All in all, the trajectory of the track is innately Progressive Rock. In minute 7, we get a sweet bridge section with a quirky mix of instruments and rhythms; definitely winning me closer to 'over'. One of those rare moments I wish an individual section were its own track. Finally, we have "Hidden Exit on a Greyhound", which oddly enough continued in the Funk vibes, replete with that soulful lead guitar. Maybe someday even vocals such as these can be something I'll innately enjoy; it worked for death growls of most stripes, so why not? Back in the low and slow, this ain't your mama's "Maggot Brain" [I should probably have heard this track in the last ten years to really go and say something like this, but, like, ya know, sue me, I guess].

I also guess we'll be continuing here... in due time. Hopefully it won't take me 5 years to get to whatever is next for them. All in all, especially as a Prog-dorkin' outsider, I'd certainly recommend giving this one a spin once.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0