Mutantes* – Mutantes

'Rock' worked overtime on keeping this beauty hidden. No-one outside of Brazil had a clue about its existence until a long line of alt-pop prime movers (Kurt Cobain, Beck and David Byrne) let out a unison "Uhh??" about it in the 1990s. Cobain even feeling moved to track down wayward Mutant Arnaldo Baptista, offering a potentially reformed Mutantes the slot on Nirvana's world tour - Nirvana then being the biggest band on the planet. Problem being that Arnaldo had only just begun to function after a long battle back to health after having jumped himself into a four month coma from the third floor of the institution treating his complete plot loss due to heartbreak and psychedelics. Also, he hadn't spoken to bandmate and former wife Rita since their divorce in the 70s; nor bandmate brother Sérgio for about 15 years. The latter scenario because of a totally understandable line in the sand. After Mutantes' mid-70s split, Sergio had stopped using Gibson, Gretsch and hollow-bodied guitars and begun to use Fenders instead. Arnaldo was quite right; absolutely impossible conditions! For playing or speaking. But the Cobain connection and the ensuing nutty infamy were perfect conditions for re-releasing undiscovered masterpieces.

The most outlandish thing about this record is that it sounds more like a boffin-ish 90s indie group with some whacky psychedelic influences than anything specifically late-60s. But unlike any boffin-ish indie group, this is so way ahead of the game, its innovation (which even includes sampling) is completely off the 20th century map. Of course their love of The Beatles, Psychedelia and Californian Sunshine Pop is audible but they're the only group (out of all the 60s major players) to be wildly influenced by the anything-goes template of Sgt. Pepper and not sound anything like it. With their Bacharachian chord complexity and their blatant appetite for such rock-deemed 'kitsch' ingredients as French Pop, Opera and Exotica, I say they take Pepper's ambition further. Also, unlike the Tropicália movement's other key artists (Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa), it's far less 'Brazilian' or 'tropical'. While they sing in Portuguese and there are the expected (though very occasional) use of samba and bossa rhythms, the feel is more indie-rock psych or, more accurately, a genre as yet unnamed. The off-world bass sounds are at least 30 years too early.

For all the incredible flash of the surface, this second album reveals the even more incredible compositional artistry at their core. Their first album had consisted mainly of Mutantes' extraordinary interpretations of songs written by their friends (Gil, Veloso, Jorge Ben etc.), whereas here, 95% of the material carries the Baptista - Lee - Dias tag. That Lennon, McCartney, Wilson, Barrett et al. weren't all on phones or planes to Sao Paulo the day after release (to marvel, gush and cop) HAS to be down to their simply not knowing. The informed Cobain was spot on about Mutantes' "brilliant genius", so now that the secret's out, why is the rest of the world taking so long to cotton on? So much more than 'overlooked' or 'underrated'; in of out-of-the-blue originality at the very least, this record is all time top 5.

The lead singer of this band, Rita Lee Jones, ed away on May,8th 2023, aged 76. Rest in Peace.