La Arana Es La Vida
Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds
In the Red Records, 2016
Sordid, seedy and feelin’ like they have licentious intentions, this latest disc from Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds, rocks like they are coming apart at the seams. This is garage rock at it’s skeeziest best. This is the third full 
length from this line-up. It bristles and grooves in turn, helping to keep the listener off guard.
Opening track “Psychic Future” struts to a raunchy beat with guitars that sound like they’re being whipped into submission, and they probably are. Songs often sound as if they are coming undone, like a drunken disrobing five minutes after last call.
“Magic Machine” shifts gear repeatedly, audacious and unrefined. This could’ve been written in ’56 or ’66. “Nine Mile Blubber Pile” skulks along, plodding surf and distortion melding into an uneasy marriage, that works nonetheless. While “Rickytickytocky” is effortless and light, like catching a smooth strecth of highway at top speed. Same goes for the fanciful “Karate Monkey.”
Psychedelic garage mindfuck are three words that come to the fore when trying to explaing how great this is.
Aggressive and defiant, this disc of three chord tunes is dressed up with different and unexpected colors. Kid Congo and co. raise the bar on what one should expect from a great garage album.