CD Review

The Brazilian Girls – none of whom are Brazilian, and three quarters of whom are male (i.e. taste the wry irony!) – are an easy fit for David Byrne’s ultimate iPod: hip, ironic, propelling trip-hop grooves while inflecting various swirly sounds of Old Europe and Parisian jazz clubs, with vocals and lyrics in no less than four languages.

The good news: they’re as wildly imaginative and consistently interesting as they think they are, and also quite accessible, despite a decidedly sophisticate, hipster bent. Besides, if Captain Avant Garde himself, New York jazz scientist John Zorn, can get into it (he’s an ardent fan), then why do we have any reason not to trust? Zorn is one of the few artists who can reconcile avant-isms with digestibility, and Brazilian Girls, like Bebel Gilberto and other vaguely similar cross-pollinators, have that nailed.

Italian chanteuse Sabina Sciubba ties it all together on sultry soundscapes like “Lazy Lover,” the Serge Gainsboro-esque “Home,” and “Ships in the Night,” which is as haunting as a song with its title should be. Even in its more callow moments – the reggae-fied “Pussy” has a chorus that goes “Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana." Goes to show, Brazillian Girls are one group that sounds sexy and completely assured of themselves.