Review Summary: It's dangerous / it makes you mortal.
Soda Stereo were an Argentinian band fronted by Gustavo Cerati, and their sixth album
Dynamo brought together the sonic palette of the shoegaze greats (think
Loveless), with the energy of an alt rock debut (think
The Stone Roses). Listening to it in the present day, it’s all very deliciously early-90s, down to the specific guitar reverberations used on tracks like “Toma La Ruta” and “Nuestra Fe” – it’s of-the-time but in a thrilling way, capturing the DIY excitement and grungy eclecticism of the music scene at the time.
Cerati’s vocals have the theatricality of David Byrne, the passion of Billy Corgan and the pop appeal of Michael Stipe. He truly carries his pain on his back, and his voice enhances every felt emotion in a way that transcends language barriers (but when you read the lyric translations, it becomes clear he’s hurting). And meanwhile the band just carries on, the wall of fuzzy guitars chugging along in the background, impervious to the impassioned leading performance.
It’s a peculiar juxtaposition; but ultimately the choice to highlight the vocals at the front of the mix adds a bravado and tenderness to Soda Stereo’s sound. It sets them apart from the shoegaze big hitters like Lush and Ride, where voices are often an instrument on equal footing with guitars and synths. You can’t imagine Cerati staring at his shoes, he’s here to put on a show.
Dynamo brought to mind a movie that I watched recently, Gregg Araki’s
Nowhere. Amazing movie with an equally amazing soundtrack filled with 90s indie stalwarts, and I could see “Luna Roja” or “Sweet Sahumer*o” fitting in seamlessly. More importantly though, they seem to share the ethos of using style to
enhance substance – they’re exaggeratedly romanticised, but the world-building created through their musical delivery and set design serves to beautifully illustrate the same crushing themes. Love is fickle, sex is complicated, and we are all doomed.
