Headlined by Miami's Locos Por Juana and NYC's Apes & Androids, plus a star-studded lineup of local bands and DJS, Sensory Overload '08 (music curated by Becca Nelson) promises to be a truly eclectic musical event. Here's CL music critic Wade Tatangelo's take on some of the noteworthy bands:
Locos Por Juana
This multiracial ensemble's distinctive funk tropicale brilliantly incorporates the Colombian folk-dance music Cumbia, reggae and the contemporary club sounds that this group of 20somethings encountered while growing up in the immigrant-intensive South Florida community Kendall. The Miami-based band's previous album was nominated for a Latin Grammy. Machete Music, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, will release Locos Por Juana's new full-length, La Verdad, May 13. The vocals are in Spanish but the smoldering, horn-laced grooves should translate easily enough. See my interview with Locos Por Juana guitarist Marc Kondrat. (11:45 p.m., Courtyard stage)
Apes & Androids
Glam-metal heroics replete with falsetto vocals play alongside 1980s-sounding synth freakouts on Apes & Androids' gloriously hedonistic debut disc, Blood Moon. The NYC quintet is all over the music map, slyly biting from Ennio Morricone and straight-up quoting The Doors — hey, whatever it takes to get the party started. (12:15 a.m., Cantina Stage)
Très Bien
Clearwater garage rockers channel British Invasion bands of the 1960s while injecting enough young sass to win over the Facebook set. The quartet reached the top six last year on the Fox reality television series The Next Great American Band. (9:45 p.m., Cantina Stage)
Band Marino
Orlando indie rockers salt power pop with twangy numbers featuring mandolin, violin and banjo on their album The Sea and the Beast, a dynamic, catchy set of country-rock realized through an emo filter. (11:15 p.m., Cantina Stage)
History
Also based in Orlando, History offers a melodic brand of indie-metal in which keyboards and heavy guitar riffs augment growled vocals that are occasionally Vocoder-ized. (10:30 p.m., Cantina Stage)
Acho Brother
Tampa's Hector Mayoral (vocals, guitar) and Orlando's Zak Byrd (drums) combine traditional Latin sounds with experimental flourishes. (10:20 p.m., Courtyard Stage)
Protoman
Like most hardcore rappers with pale skin and more skill than Vanilla Ice, this Fort Lauderdale MC's rhymes and flow have clearly been influenced by Eminem. Unlike Marshall Mathers, though, Protoman spits over jazzy, old-school, boom-bap beats. (11 p.m., Courtyard Stage)
Joe Stu
Atlanta MC has a direct, articulate flow that he issues over laid-back beats that recall the golden era of hip-hop (EPMD, A Tribe Called Quest). (9:50 p.m., Courtyard Stage)
DJ Blenda/Crate Brothers/Slopfunkdust/Soul Night DJs
Popular local turntablist Mike Blenda split his time between the reggae band Tribal Style and solo gigs like this one. Tampa DJs Christopher Robin and Oprah Spinfrey of the Crate Brothers spin a dance-ready mix of mostly old-school hip-hop and new wave spiced with more contemporary concoctions, like their killer mash-up of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and the Goodie Mob classic "Cell Therapy." (Various times, Courtyard Stage). Also on the music lineup to spin between sets are Slopfunkdust and Soul Night DJs (Cantina Stage).
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2008.