Pop Espontaneo by the Paraguayan duo JODI is a great collection of psychedelic garage music from 1969 through 1975 remastered and released by Guerren Records. The duo, brothers Joern and Dirk Wenger, used guitars, Moog synths, exotic instruments, and distortion pedals to create stuff ahead of its time, and Pop Espontaneo is full of unreleased home recordings from the Wengers.
The opener, “Loveseller,” drenched in fuzz and falsetto vocals, sounds like a lost track from Thee Oh Sees. Besides having a great title, “Altered Termites in My Room” has a great 1960’s South American secret agent groove. “Change Your Mind About Me” is psych-pop with a wild guitar solo. The guitar on “Night Dreamer” is also excellent. It soars like a 32-bit eagle in a fantasy game. “Save My Soul” and “Take Me Higher” are weird rockers that belong in some kind of horror-disco musical.
The organ work on “A Sunburst of Bees” (another great title) is outstanding. It almost reaches demented church organ levels. “Where Are All My Friends” sounds like it could’ve been recorded by Ariel Pink yesterday. “I Will Wait for You” reveals JODI’s love of Rubber Soul (as does “Tell Me Why” five tracks later) with its beats, guitar chords, and vocal work. It’s great. “I Found You in the Night” reveals JODI’s love of the Kinks‘ early work. Just listen to that beat and tell me I’m wrong.
The wild psychedelic guitar solos continue on “I Loved You Once,” and the church organ continues on the Simon and Garfunkel-like “Hard to Be Alone” – one of three “bonus tracks” on an album that is essentially all bonus tracks found in an office of the Wenger family’s paint factory after forty years. The other two are “Searching for a Figure” (with wild synths) and another Kinks-like fun tune, “Toys.”
The fact that these master tapes survived in a tropic environment in a desk drawer is amazing. It’s amazing as this collection, really. The Wenger brothers deserve to be better known by the world at large, and Pop Espontaneo is a great place to start.
Keep your mind open.
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Hi Nick, thanks a lot for nice review. I am very gratefully.
Kindly Regards from Paraguay…joern
Thanks for a wonderful record. I plan to track down more of your work.