at a glance...

Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Debut: 1991

Personnel:
José Luis Pardo -songwriting, guitar
Julio Briceño -songwriting, vocals
Armando Figueredo -keyboards, backing vocals
Mauricio Arcas -songwriting, percussion, vocals
José Rafael Torres -bass
Juan Manuel Roura -drums, vocals
with:
Martika -vocals
Gillian Caballero -vocals
Ryan Downe -slide guitar, backing vocals
Phillip Steir -production

I really loved these Venezuelan nutjobs' first album for Luaka Bop, The New Sound Of The Venezuelan Gozadera, and was salivating for the chance to hear where they were going to go from there. Once you've broken through, you really only have three choices, you know: 1) Make another album almost exactly like the last one and face the criticism that you're just rehashing old ideas; 2) Make a new sort of record that is completely opposed to the feel that made you famous, so you can get criticized for not understanding why people liked you in the first place; or 3) Try both and get dissed for trying to be everything to everyone. You really can't win with these critical bastards, you know.

But my beloved Invisible Friends have found the oft-rumored/never-glimpsed Fourth Path, and Arepa 3000 demonstrates what it is: Make an album exactly like your last one EXCEPT that this one is a concept album about the first Venezuelan manned space mission. (Wow; if we'd only explained this to The Beta Band, that last monstrosity would never have happened!)

In oh so many ways, Arepa 3000 is more of the same: fakey Latin lounge music with minor psychedelia, smokin' electronic salsa falsa, disco that couldn't be more un-authentic if Beck were playing it. But they do it so damned well: it's fun as hell, it flows together like a damn dream, and you don't need to speak Spanish to dig it. That's especially true on "Amor," probably the cheesiest song ever written, which the boys re-make in an even cheesier fashion. We even get into a little necrophiliac Charo worship in "Cuchi-Cuchi." (Oh - Charo's not dead? Perdoname, por favor.)

This is an amazing band with at least three great songwriters, who work alone or separately as they need to; everything they try sounds great and begs the question of why critics even exist, if all they can find to do is to poke holes in what is a very good record. But as long as Ink Blot lets me do this, it's my job, and no one is safe from my rapier wit and snap judgments based on my dramatic mood swings. Yeah, it sounds like the last one, but you shouldn't care. Get 'em both and let them fight it out in your mind.

If you like Los Amigos Invisibles, check out:
Los Amigos Invisibles New Sound Of The Venezuelan Gozadera
Pizzicato Five The International Playboy & Playgirl Record
Sergent Garcia Un poquito quema'o
Basement Jaxx Remedy
Pet Shop Boys Truly
Café Tacuba Reves/Yosoy
Various Dancehall Reggaespañol
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs Satanico Dr. Cadillac

-- Matt Cibula