Chicha is a style of electrified Peruvian folk music begun in the ‘60s that frequently had its lilting vocals and rhythms flavored with surf and psychedelic touches. XIXA (from Tucson) are here to grow this style for the future, and they do a terrific job in showing the listener how many ways the genre can be stretched. There’s even a foray into near-metal (see “Pressures Of Mankind”), but mainly the songs touch upon bases like spaghetti westerns, cumbia and the work of fellow bands Calexico and Giant Sand, whose members they share. The production is excellent throughout, and fans of Los Lobos will appreciate the spectrum of XIXA’s universe. Well done!
Score: 8 out of 10
XIXA
Bloodline
Barbes Records
Producer: Gabriel Sullivan, Brian Lopez
