Montoya Visions Of Ultratumba CD

This is the second release from Montoya to pass through my hands. The first didn't inspire me to really write anything, and was relegated to our Bargain Basement where it met with similar shrugs from the CO South music team."Little Maniac" has changed my opinion of this duo of Peruvian immigrants. As of this writing, it is IMHO, the most unique and original song of the album. It's dark and urgent. Synthy, but not New Wave. The lyrics tell of a man's obedience to a dominating woman. He bows his head in obeisance, but wishes the leash were a little longer. The music aptly captures his total compliance to and overwhelming obsession with this imposing woman. Par Excellence!But one song doesn't carry an album. A more understated assortment of tracks follows that contains a fire of slow-burning embers. If there's an overall aspect of Montoya to be impressed with, it's evident in the fact that they have managed to synthesize something from nearly every aspect of 40 years of American Rock & Roll and Folk. On "Slow Fade to Black" they show their immigrant colors with a hearty Latin beat and organ accompaniment. "Que Pasa Chichi?" has a low-slung and dirty-rock'n attitude one might expect to come blaring out of a Cheech Marin low-rider. "Stranded", the very next track, does an about face with a light and fragile, almost emo, ballad that cries out for a lost love. "Tu y la Soledad": I had to laugh aloud at the obvious The Who moment that sounds like it came right out of Tommy. A sly tip of the hat to a great band from across the Atlantic.But the real masterpiece of this album just might be "Savannah." It's a simple song, musically, but the aching and regretful lyrics of a soldier executed for defending the honor of a woman who was nothing more than a common whore is probably the most powerful statement in an album filled with woe and loss. Completely deflated, his execution is almost anticlimactic.JD - hybridmagazine.comPraise for MONTOYA's debut album:"Clomping out of the gate like a bar band Tarantino would love, the brothers Montoya soon settle into '70s rock swagger with an ease that belies their age. Witness "Las Joyas," which sways around drunkenly for the better part of its verses and then suddenly challenges you to a knife fight under the bridge" - Tablet Magazine"The Brothers Montoya kick the door in, dripping with testosterone and tequila, and hammer out first cut "Jezebel," all blaring guitars and repetitive, slightly threatening choruses. After chasing you under the table and laughing gruffly at your timidity, they pull you out and buy you a round. By the first shimmery chords of next track, "Solo," you're lost in the delicate harmonies and trying to remember what all the fuss was about. And it only gets better."- Kevan Breitinger - www.indie-music.com"MONTOYA is the debut from brothers Gino and Sergio. Two guys makin' some basic rock and roll noise. Cool! At times, sounds like a Spanish version of the Black Keys but not quite as fuzzed-out. Basic power rock-and-roll. Track 6 - EL GATO - rocks! Awesome!"- Pat Turlo - WHMB Waterville, 89.7 FMMONTOYA are Sergio and Gino Montoya, brothers, Peruvian. They played for a while in different bands in Peru and Costa Rica, before Sergio moved to London in 1999 and Gino to Seattle in 2000.In 2000 Sergio was the drummer for Cuzco, a London based band. In 2001 he put out his first solo LP (Gaijin Toroku) under his own label, eRRatic music. That same year he decided to move to Seattle to join Gino. Sergio played in the Seattle circuit with bands such as Biography of Ferns, Wand and Conduit. In 2002 and 2003 Gino helped Sergio with songwriting duties and some guitar work for his second solo LP (MondoNgo) and only EP (SM & The Tripe of the World) In 2004 they put out the first MONTOYA LP (self-titled) also under eRRatic music. The music is a mix of raw rock and pop with an evident Latin influence.Their second LP (Visions of Ultratumba) is out NOW.