So the year is winding down and it’s getting to the point where we’re being constantly assaulted by album of the year lists [see how I expressed list-fatigue but still plugged ours? Shameless]. With all the looking back that’s been going on I’ve stumbled on a few 2011 releases that are never gonna make best-ofs, but still deserve a little loving before the year is up. “Jive With The Killer Instinct” by Brazilian Money, an EP that dropped way back in July, is one of them: it’s probably not going to be anyone’s number 1, but heck, it features one of my favourite tracks of the year and I think something would be amiss if I didn’t at least tell you a little about it.
“Jive With The Killer Instinct” is actually Brazilian Money’s second release of the year, coming just three months after the release of “This Is Not A Dream”. I dug that album, but this EP makes it obvious that Brazilian Money really suit a shorter form factor. “This Is Not A Dream” wasn’t long by any stretch of the imagination, but its abrasive, fuzzy guitars lines got wearisome by the album’s close nonetheless. There’s just no time for that to happen on this 15 minute release.
It’s not just length that makes a difference though: Brazilian Money’s sound is still scrappy as heck, but some of the tracks here manage to be super-chilled too. Take “Slowly Soaking Up Some Rays On A Sofa”. It starts off simple, catchy and rowdy, but hit the bridge and suddenly the song becomes as laidback as its title suggests it should be, all reverberating beach guitars and baked lyrics, backed by a chorus of “ba badah bas” that just screams of nostalgia. “Aliens Will Arrive” provides a similar nostalgia hit with an opening that could pass for an instrumental from Brian Wilson’s “Smile”. There’s a gorgeous song in there behind the hissing production.
So that’s “Jive With The Killer Instinct”. It’s goofy, loose, and a little aggressive on the ear at times, but I like it. If you’ve got 15 minutes, check it out. If you’ve only got 3, ”Slowly Soaking Up Some Rays On A Sofa”.
