Los Kowalski - Dejarte Ir

Mexico's Los Kowalski has had the labels Krautrock, shoegaze and psychedelia attached to it, among other genres. It's accurate yet reductive. Many inventive bands are described as familar-yet-original, but Los Kowalski really does have a knack for evoking the past to its advantage while seamlessly blending its influences in a way that defies comparison. Take two of the best songs on Dejarte Ir ("Let You Go"), for example: "Puente a la luna" ("Bridge to the Moon") is Krautrock on downers, coasting by on a slowed down motorik beat and a two note bass line and eventually subsumed by a wall of enveloping guitars; "Albatros" employs a faster, more elastic beat, and seems to be another one chord affair until a change that hits like Mjölnir. Dejarte Ir is a rare album that can somehow lull listeners into a reverie and keep them on their toes at the same time.