Album Review: El Tembleque del Barba - Responsabilidades Mundanas (2020)

El Tembleque del Barba ("The Shaking of the Beard") are a five-piece band from Uruguay's capital Montevideo. Their style can be described as a mix of Blues Rock, Hard Rock and Milonga. Thus, there are two premieres on my review blog: this is the first time I am reviewing a band from Uruguay and also this is my first conscious contact with Milonga.

The band's recent output is the ten-track album "Responsabilidades Mundanas" ("Wordly Responsibilities"). The selfreleased album can be streamed on YouTube. For digital copies you might have to contact the band via Facebook, Instagram or E-Mail.
Talking about the music El Tembleque del Barba play, I might have a restricted view due to my lack of knowledge about the genre Milonga which is mostly to be found in the Eastern parts of the South American continent. So, please bear with me. I'm trying my best here.

The musical backbone consists of heavily rocking rhythms and plenty of shifted beats on the drums by Martin Rodriguez. Bass player Rodrigo Morena andguitarist Mauricio Betancor build strong Blues Rock riffs above this foundation. Their style has a strong tendency towards Hard Rock, Fuzz and Fazers. Singer Sebastián Fabro uses his dark, intense and yet harmonic vocals to add to the Heavy Rock atmosphere. Special to my ears and also beautifully fitting is the air that is given by the very dominant saxophone played by Gerardo Lopez.

For about half an hour El Tembleque del Barba invite their audience to a brisk dance with sporty steps, charismatic temper and some playful slow jams. The band easily merges the the structures of Blues and Hard Rock with dynamic rhythms and harmonies whch I would declare as "Latin" (I know the term is not super adequate and I do apologize). It is the Milonga beats and fills that make "Responasibilidades Mundanas" so distiguishable from ordinary North American or European Blues Rock. It feels like every beat is defined by a lot of tiny and quick steps on a dancefloor where the sun is shining forever.

As Heavy Blues Rock meets Milonga I am really enjoying this album. For all readers from Latin America feel free to make annotations or give me further recommendations on heavy, psychedelic or unique music from your region. To my North American, European, Asian, African and Oceanic readers I can only recommend to listen to this album and widen your horizon. It is really worth it!

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