Novillero - The Brindleford Follies
(Endearing)
Novillero is a fantastic band name. No, I didn't know what it meant
either, but that's what Spanish-to-English dictionaries are for.
A Novillero is a bullfighter trainee... how hep can you get?
Novillero (the band) is a 6 piece pop group from Winnipeg who create
sunny, jazzy pop songs; actually, I was somewhat disappointed to find
the word Novillero in the Spanish-to-English dictionary because it
would seem more appropriate for the band to select a Portuguese word
for their name, as a callout to the influence of Brazilian pop masterminds
like Antonio Jobim and Sergio Mendes to their sound.
Novillero is influenced by those Brazilian guys (along with more recent
guys who were themselves influenced by the bossa nova, like The
Sea and Cake, The Aluminum Group, and Stereolab), but Novillero, for
as smooth as they try to be, are at heart an indie pop band and all
the good and band things that implies. Less pure elements are left
in the mix for the sake of indie integrity, or as Master P would
say, being real. For instance, a male singer may be given the chance
to sing lead in a song because he wrote the music or the
lyrics, even when such singer has a fairly horrible voice and sings as
if in a Broadway play instead of fronting a suave and sophisticated
pop group (see "The Plaguing of an Ex-Comic's Mind"). Or in other cases,
immature lyrics may be left as is because the band would rather have a
less-talented writer feel like they have ownership over a song rather
than to create any turmoil by coming together to make the lyrics as
strong as possible (see "The Day the Trumpet Player Fell in Love").
Despite these faults, Novillero is still an engaging and memorable
pop band. Part of what makes them memorable is their use of trumpet,
which is used as a lead instrument as much as the guitar or keyboards
are. For instance,
the instrumental "Ambrose, We Need Advice" makes great use of the trumpet
as it takes the lead melody and gives the song a very rich, full sound.
On "On a Canvas, Stained," the trumpet provides counter melody to the
guitar as the song builds to the chorus of the song, making the song
much fuller and prettier. This use of trumpet is very skilled; it is
not just some hack use of the instrument for color and tone.
One of the stronger tracks is "Stumble On," which is very reminiscent
of early The Sea and Cake with its mellow melodies and breathy male
vocals. The guitar is very light and repetitive, much like Archer
Prewitt's guitar, not at all bouncy but instead gentle and swaying,
accompanied by spare notes from a glockenspiel. The trumpet is used
well here, adding color with drawn-out tones, the slow, whole-note-based
progression echoing the changes in mood and inflection by the singer.
"Goodbye, Blue Monday" is also a great song, letting the sole female
singer take a more prominent (but still backing) role. In the song,
the keyboard and both guitars play melodies simultaneously, all
miraculously fitting together to create a lush, warm blanket of
sound... and we haven't even gotten to the requisite bursts of trumpet
melody that take the song even further.
Novillero has constructed a very nice debut album in The Brindleford
Follies, a very lush recreation of AM pop as done by an earnest indie
band. If they mature, perhaps recruiting an extra talented voice
or perhaps adding another instrument like violin or trombone, they
could become an outstanding band.
|
