I don't want to waste a lot of mental energy on these guys, so I'll attempt to keep this brief without going on too much of a tangent as to why this album is so terrible.
Let me start by saying I love Broken Social Scene. L-U-V. They're a band that who collectively, and through individual efforts from their members (Kevin Drew, Feist, Emily Haines, Apostle of Hustle, Stars, Jason Collett, Do Make Say Think, et al) have--in my eyes--yet to make a bad album. And their self-titled album is without question in my top 10 of all time. They deeply resonate with me. And while I can't necessarily explain it (am I part Canadian?), and certainly can, and do, embrace it.
So one bored afternoon at work I'm perusing through various BSS member's myspace pages when I start noticing a band I've never heard of constantly being listed in said BSS member's top friends list.
Enter Chikita Violenta. Apparently they're from Mexico. And BSS member David Newfeld produced this album. There's the connection!
I heard the default song on CV's myspace page and thought it sounded great. "I'm totally downloading this album when I get home.", I thought "There's no way it can be bad. Just no way."
WROOOOOONG
So wrong.
That default song I heard (the delightful "Laydown"), is the only stand-out track on the whole album. While other songs sound okay from time to time, this album lacks any moments that are pure Chikita Violenta. They just come off as a Mexican Broken Social Scene cover band. Also, they're a Mexican band that doesn't sing a single song in Spanish! Infuriating!
The writing was on the wall, people. We all know the track record of non-union Mexican equivalents.
The song "The Last Film" is one of the worst songs I've heard this year. Just dreadful. The lyrics...the music....muy malo.
I think one of the reasons I like Broken Social Scene so much is that I get the feeling their an extremely genuine band who are making music from their heart that they absolutely love. It's indie rock that, while it wears its influences on its sleeve, still has individuality in spades. The same cannot be said about Chikita Violenta. They've made a record that's frustratingly unoriginal, and sadly unenjoyable. At the very least, this record was not put out on Arts & Crafts Records. So I can still view that label as beacon for good indie rock with a spotless record.
In short, The Star and Suns Sessions will leave you feeling more sick than a 5lb bag of Mexican dollar store candy.
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