Alexandre Soares & Jorge Coelho
Alla Polacca
Bruno Duarte
Bypass
Carlos Bica
Complicado
La La La Ressonance
Lobster
Most People Have Been Trained To Be Bored
Norberto Lobo
Old Jerusalem
Ölga
Puny
The Unplayable Sofa Guitar
They are two and fear no one. They call themselves the power rangers of noise rock, but contrary to those superheroes, Guilherme Canhão and Ricardo Martins don’t own any super-powers; unless you consider the chemistry that binds them together musically a super-power in itself. They got tired of fighting crime and turned instead to firing stages whenever opportunity arose (more than 50 times, rumour has it); not only in Portugal, but in Spain and France as well. With urgency on their skin and electricity in their hands, they released music through whatever means they found at hand – CD-R’s and net labels. They got noticed right from their first steps, quickly becoming one of the best Portuguese live acts and a decisive and bold step ahead was now in order.
Sexually Transmitted Electricity is the first ID of the duo, following some previous temporary licenses that are now part of their history. Spreading through twelve songs, Lobster consubstantiate an improbable meeting of impossible riffs with equally improbable percussion. They manage it through a set of songs that were part of the Lobster fold (registered in Fast Seafood) and some new creations – all of them blasting on the red level, on the edge. It’s math rock with enough sensibility to be undoubtedly beautiful (that’s how Farewell Chewbacca, the song they consider to be first among all songs, sounds: half punch-in-the-face, half beauty). Rock without a safety net and with a sound quality to match (crude and direct); listening to Dr. Phil is like sensing closely the sweet and the bitter, the serene and the violent, life and death – and rejuvenating considerably along the way.
Sexually Transmitted Electricity, produced by Paulo Miranda and Rodrigo Cardoso at the AMP Studios in Viana do Castelo, is a document that captures Lobster in their prime. It is neither late nor early; it is right in time. Such urgency deserved a record like this – a more than admirable debut. More than meeting hopes and expectations, with Sexually transmitted electricity Lobster diluted the influences that have been attributed to them and built something of their own. As expected, they managed to maintain the strength and urgency of their live performances and further still shake the
Portuguese music scene. Here, more than ever, Lobster do justice to the motto that’s accompanied them for a while and that is threatening to stay: “Keep It Brutal”.
Press
André Gomes
Photo
Nuno Mendes
