Skank - Official Site - Estandarte

Release

No fretting; no one is going to use that swear word that stallholders and red-tape journalists love repeating mad**ro. It is something like that, but at the same time it is not. After 17 years of career, and most of them occupying a hegemonic position in the national pop scene, the Skank releases their tenth album (including the song collection in Radiola) without any complex and in harmony with their origins and essence. For a group that has already sold around 5.5million CDs and DVDs, theoretically they no longer need to prove anything to anyone. So far, however, Samuel Rosa, Henrique Portugal, Lelo Zaneti and Haroldo Ferretti have "policed" themselves to avoid getting stuck in old successful formulas.

In Estandarte (banner in English), what you hear is a band that decided to relax and enjoy. "Your pleasure is my banner", proclaims Samuel in the thrilling track "Chão", a swing with electronics seasoning and ZZ Top guitar riff. "The sky that invites you/ wherever the sound hits/ I fit in /Groove in the right size / I’ll be waiting for you up there or down here ", goes the lyrics by this old partner Chico Amaral, after mentioning the hot "Hey Negrita", the funky pearl by the 1976 Rolling Stones. According to Samuel, the original idea pursued another Stonean reference, the discothèque "Emotional Rescue", of 1980, with falsetto vocals.

In their previous records the simplicity (two chords) of the tune could have succumbed to internal demands. But not this time. "We used to have these limitations, but now we can allow ourselves to be far more spontaneous ", reveals the singer.

The opening track, "Pára-raio", invests in a hybrid, compelling swing of the Roberto Carlos type; a cross-between soul and Jovem Guarda, with metals to dancing to the sway of the lyrics by Nando Reis: "Her imaginary toy / made to entertain her/ Inside, I go in and out"... It is not a pun; It means what it means, pal. And it gets hotter in the verse that goes I-wanna-be-your-dog: I bark with intensity of details / I want you here".

As Samuel quips, it is all about a discourse that is "not as much about sex as it is obscene ". Or, as I would like to define now, more tactfully: it is convex chitchat made to fit in with the concave of the Brazilian pop of today, so asexual and flooded in the mellow sentimentalism and litanies of the "conscious attitude" type ".

Estandarte is a very happy reunion with producer Dudu Marote, an old mate that helped transform into diamond (over a million copies sold) albums like Calango (1994) and O Samba Poconé (1996). As intimacy is, you know, the same thing envy is ..., Dudu came in slowly, light-hearted and causal. He started by criticizing things here and there, like no other producer had ever dared to, therefore raising the standards of the whole group, making us more demanding. He gave us invaluable guidelines, just like a good old friend. "Laugh more, be more unpretentious ", he warned

Let’s make it clear, just as it is in the 12 tracks of the album: Skank did not go after Dudu, seeking to retrieve the glorious moments of the past, the lost "Jamaican" link. The producer’s extensive knowledge of electronic music is exactly what the band needed – dance-floor hits and grooves. Without any reggae, ska or dancehall past wroship.

Estandarte was recorded between January and August, in a completely different way from the previous albums: little by little, in between gigs and tours. Most of the songs were created from jam-lapidated sounds in the Máquina studio, in Belo Horizonte. The experience we gained on the road is invaluable. Most of what was played in those "raw" sessions were lapidated in the final session; especially the keyboards.

In the track "Notícias do Submundo", the guitar is first-take throughout, with no overdubs. The well-informed will pinpoint Homero and Rimbaud in the lyrics, but rock lovers will fall for the psychedelism of this sheer garage stuff.

The influences of the sixties and The Beatles were not ruled out. "Escravo" hypnotizes with its go-go groove coupled with "Taxman" and so many other hits of the key rock decade, and the exotic charm of the sitar underlining the Muslim-romantic lyrics (!). "Assim Sem Fim", composed with Cesar Mauricio (former-Virna Lisi and Radar Tantã) is close to what they call coupling an LCD Soundsystem with John Lennon. But at the very bottom, it is no more no less than Clube da Esquina.

And just wait till you hear "Sutilmente", one of those unpretentious ballads especially made for Nando Reis’s brilliant lyrics, framed by a luxurious strings arrangement... It becomes clear that there is no distancing from the ’mineira’ music, especially as it is the basis of everything the band has done, even "Resposta" (and even before the group changed its name to Skank...). "This album is, more than the others before it, the synthesis of everything we have done so far. That, is, if a band can synthesize everything they have done, 15 years later...", questions Samuel.

A good summary of Estandarte is the track that is already on the radio stations, in the mp3s and in the hearts of the fans. "Ainda Gosto Dela" is a sweet pop made even sweeter by the backup vocals commanded by Negra Li, caressing our ears one octave above Samuel’s voice. Romantic, naive and a deserving successor of hits like "Dois Rios", the song has electronic decorations in the Benean-like chorus (Benean for Jorge Ben!), already used in the last there decades. An original mixture, Brazilian through and through, a perfect sample of what the talent of Haroldo, Lelo, Henrique and Samuel have been producing for 17 years now.

On the sleeve, a beautiful oil painting celebrates the tradition of the surrealist pop art on the sleeves of all Skank albums. Despite the "less asexual" climate the album might suggest, the blond girl shedding green tears is not the result of any briefing. It is the fruit of the vision of Rafael Silveira, 29, an artist influenced by the publicity of the 1940s and 1950s, by cartoonists like Robert Crumb and by the painters Mark Ryden and Eric White. The insert brings another nine pieces, showing the dimension of the talent of Rafael, already recognized by the American Publishing House Dark Horse, which publishes the books by Frank Miller.

Pedro Só - October 2008

P.S.: It is for this reason that two American hotshots work directly with the Skank, ensuring the high quality of the sound: Michael Fossenkemper, in charge of mixing O Samba Poconé and Radiola, and the legendary Bob Ludwig, who signs the masterization. It's not just a mere bustling about for them. This time Bob made a point of praising the technical perfection of "Chão". Such a compliment from someone who is used to working with celebrities like Paul McCartney, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, is not to be sneezed at.