at a glance...

Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Debut: 1991

Personnel:
José Luis Pardo -songwriting, guitar
Julio Briceño -songwriting, singing
Armando Figueredo -songwriting, keyboards
Mauricio Arcas -songwriting, percussion
José Rafael Torres -bass
Juan Manuel Roura -drums
with:
Andres Levin -saxophone, tres, production
Arto Lindsay -guitar
Bill Ware -vibraphone
Kenji Shimoda - hilarious vocal guest spot trying to swear in Spanish
Rebeca Troconis -sexy vocal
Lisa Mosko -even sexier vocal

Yeah, I been around the block a couple of times, and I've made some mistakes when it comes to love. First - and does a fella ever forget his first love? - there was Thin Lizzy. Soon, Queen and Sweet and Heart, then a long, involved ménage à trois with me and ELO and Chicago that I'd just as soon forget. Then...aw, I'm sorry, I must be talking yer ear off, and all you wanted was just to come into this bar for a drink. Well, none of that matters now, because I'm in love. Yes, that's right: I said I'm head over heels again, and I'm not afraid of what happens next. But who ever thought I'd fall for a post-modern Venezuelan disco band?

I knew I'd love Los Amigos Invisibles from the very first words on the album: "Güelcome to a new sound of the Venezuelan gozadera, a fusion of different elements of Latin dance and sex culture." Who wouldn't go gaga for a line like that? And so what if those honeyed words are soon undercut by a rude voice saying, in Spanish, the equivalent of "Fuck, man, get on with that shit"? I was still a goner. And then those six machos locked into the chunky groove that is "Ultra-Funk." This song could have been on the español version of the "Car Wash" soundtrack from 1976, and is the timeless tale of a young man who is transformed from a spineless wreck trying to dance the Ultra-Funk into the dance itself: "Porque soy el Ultra-Funk!" (I will always think of it as our song.) And then straight into "Mi linda," which is all acid-jazzy and cool, and from there into the rest of the album, and my heart is no longer my own.

Oh, the relationship is not perfect. There are times when the irony gets to be too much, like on "Las lycras del avila"; why do they try so hard to make fun of lounge music when they play it so perfectly? And, of course, there's the Latin macho thing. really think my invisible friends are kidding in songs like "Quiero desintegrar a tu novio" ("I want to destroy your boyfriend"), and in the doubly-troubling "Ponerte en cuatro," loosely translated as "Put you on all fours." This latter song not only is entirely built on the premise that the singer wants to, y'know, put me on all fours, but also states as part of its deathless prose, "If I ever catch you doing something shady/I won't think to take your life away/I will kill you/And I won't repent." If it's possible to sing those words (in Spanish, of course) with a twinkle in your eye, Julio Briceño does; but it may not really be possible. It is of no consequence to me, because I'm already smitten, but your mileage and tolerance may vary. This is important when listening to my favorite song, a piece called "El disco anal." Guess what it's about.

But I know my new love is true, because Los Amigos are just so damned smooth. José Luis Pardo, the main songwriter, is one hell of a guitar player, and the actual songs are so well-constructed that I can't stay away for long. Even avant-trip-hop pieces like "Otra vez" come off like a summer's day in Caracas and everyone's wearing nothing and dancing in a discotheque. I would kill to see them live, but that day will never come; instead, I will continue to play this album once or twice a day, blinded by love and lust and the gozadera...

If you like Los Amigos Invisibles, check out:
Los Amigos Invisibles Arepa 3000: Venezuelan Journey Into Space
Pizzicato Five The International Playboy & Playgirl Record
Sergent Garcia Un poquito quema'o
Dimitri From Paris A Night At The Playboy Mansion
Basement Jaxx Remedy
Pet Shop Boys Truly
Café Tacuba Reves/Yosoy
Esquivel See It In Sound
Various Dancehall Reggaespañol
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs Satanico Dr. Cadillac

-- Matt Cibula