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Here we’ve got a subtly original Spanish-language folk band. Alta Costura ("High Fashion," gringos) is a Costa Rican trio based upon guitar, violin, and male/female vocals and this is their debut EP. The five quick songs are simple, mega lo-fi, and surprising. Opener "Piso Blanco" smears strummed acoustic guitar, violin, and female vocals lazily about. The tranquil song wants to get prettier by the time the chorus comes; the violin rises, preparing to break into a new melody but descends into dissonance. After this happens a few times, the delinquent instrument seems to have righted its ways and keeps things harmonious but the song’s crescendo is abruptly quelled and slowly rebuilt with tiny twinklings. The second build reaches even greater heights before it suffers the same summary fate as its primary sister. "Politix Are For Kids" is the album’s most straightforward song with its vocal harmonies and cyclical guitar. It’s also got the album’s only English lyrics, "Run bunny quick/politix are for kids," but the inflection on those words makes them slip by as easily as all the others when unexpected. "2" is the most subdued track until halfway through, the simple folk song is devoured by screeing violin and feedback. "1" has a similar fate. The instrumental strums are overtaken by a sleeping drone that awakens in the track’s final seconds. "Dos Veces Seguidas" is hypershort and piano-driven with a fuzz greater than all the other tracks. Lyrically, my Spanish has fallen into too much disrepair for me to give a deeply metaphysical analyzation that I feel secure in standing behind. I’m not much of a lyrics guy anyway. Luckily, I can tell you that when not strumming smoggy chords, the guitar finds that lockstep we love so well. Packaged in block-printed art paper sleeves with historical liner inserts (in Spanish, natch) and limited to 100, you should get on it. Another EP is on the way and you need to be as eager as I am.

Alta Costura at Amazon & Insound