This Is Normal

The new album from Cork cow-punk experimentalists (emphasis on the mentalists part) Los Langeros is anything but normal. Slicing and splicing together the insanity of Clutch and Five Horse Johnson with Tom Waits at his most obtuse, and throwing in some ska and buzzsaw punk influences for the sheer hell of it, their debut is one of the most imaginative Irish releases in yonks.
Opening with the low-end lunacy of ‘Granny’s Eyebrows’ the band transform into many incarnations over the course of 12 tracks becoming a demonic mariachi band on ‘Dolphino Latino,’ a heads down, no nonsense rock band on ‘Hairy Goat Guy’ and post apocalyptic spoken word types on ‘Golf And Gold.’ For all of its diversity, it’s all expertly stitched together and we get the feeling that anything is possible in Los Langeros’ bizarro-land. The only low point of the album is the aimless ‘Stihl Air,’ but with the likes of ‘Banjoed’ and ‘Mongolian Slapdance’ in their arsenal, they can afford the odd misfire.