FERNANDO ~ FERNANDO ........ review

Let's not muck about with long introductions today, let's just get down to the nitty gritty and tell you that Fernando, Nelson Rodrigues - Guitar / Vocals, Pedro Simão - Bass and Filipe Diniz - Drums, are a three piece band from Caldas Da Rainha, Portugal who play raucous sludge/stoner grooves coated in a mixture of clean and throaty vocal melodies and have a self-titled album out now that you just must hear.

In trying to keep with the straightforward and to the point introduction to this review how does Desert Psychlist explain how damn good this album is without going overboard and getting all gushing and flowery? Well the truth is we can't as "Fernando" is one of the most immediate and joyous albums we have had the privilege of hearing so far this year. Let's start with the riffs, this band have riffs coming out of their pores, raucous riffs, complex riffs, riffs that go in one direction and reverse back on themselves, riffs that will send shivers up your spine, riffs that will have have your jaw hitting the floor. If, by now you've not already scrolled down to the link posted beneath this review then let us tell you about the mixture of complex and simple rhythms that sit beneath those riffs, infectious drum beats and thrumming bass grooves that are the driving force around which those aforementioned riffs (and solo's) are executed, a tsunami of shifting  rhythmic groove that swells and quells as the various dynamics of each song dictate. Still with us? Well then let's discuss the superb vocal melodies that decorate these grooves, clean vocal melodies that swing between melodic and throaty and counterbalance the raucousness of the songs riffs and grooves with their contrasting mellow approach.

Ok, so if you managed to get here without scrolling past all our slavering praise then I guess you deserve to finally hear what we consider to be one of this years finest debuts from a new and very exciting band.
 Check it out ...

© 2018 Frazer Jones