LA PURA REALIDAD

Halfway between the energy of heavy prog and the exotic cadences of jazz-fusion, Mexican band La Pura realidad builds a peculiar stance in the current Latin American experimental rock scene. This band is full of veterans who have already left their mark in many historical avantgarde bands, so La Pura Realidad is basically the perpetuation of some distinct musical adventures gathered together to forge a refreshing rock style, a prog-friendly style, to be more specific. The well-organized variations instilled in the tracks' compositional structures and atmospheres are tha main reason why the presence of La Pura Realidad makes sense in a prog-zine. This album is full of cleverly developed jams, effective folkish colors and jazz- inspired articulations. The album kicks off with 'Roja Ciudad', an incendiary track whose funky vibrations provide a special dynamics. 'Sonando' finds the band exploring more complex sonorities: it starts with cosmic free-form nuances, bringing an initial disturbance that soon gives way to an exciting 3/4 jam as the main motif - with the emergence of a slow interlude, the track acquires a sense of sophistication. Now that ghins have been taken to a higher level of intensity, 'La Realidad' keeps the momentum going on a straightforward funsionesque tone: the addition of a blues-rock section makes things rougher for a while, while the jarana adds extra color to the rhythm guitar phrases (this is not the only piece in which the jarana appears as a source of sonic warmth). 'Alegría' is based on a relatively simplistic motif, with the violin and lead guitar lines displaying a recurrent candidness to the fore. The track itself leans more to teh standards of jazz-pop than to jazz-rock: the most sophisticated part of it is the drum solo right before the coda. With 'María' we are exposed back to the plethoric energy of track 2, and just like that one, it is an album's highlight. The alternation between greyish psychedelic sounds, folkish colors and robust rocking sections works amazingly. The bolero-based 'De Noche', recorded by a 50 % different line-up, is a very beautiful piece, quite dreamy... so it doesn't serve well as the album closer: somewhere in the middle should have been its appointed location so the final section powerful track 5 could close dow nthe album with flying colors. Anyway, this is an excellent album, like many from mexico's avant-garde rock scene. Although I must confess that this band doesn't impress me as much as Mar de Robles or Cabezas de Cera, La Pura Realidad can create enough musical greatness as to deserve a special place in any good prog rock or prog rock-friendly collection.