Ever heard of Totimoshi? Yes? I knew there had to be a couple of you around. How about the rest of you? That's okay; don't be shy. There you are! Don't worry; I am one of you. That's right, I had never heard of this Bay Area trio, nor had I ever heard any of its brand of rock and roll before. I did not even know they were of Latin descent. When I first heard the name, I was sure they were going to be a rock act out of Japan, like Dir En Grey or something along those lines. It turned out I could not be further from the truth.
Milagrosa is the band's sixth release and first for its new label, Volcom Entertainment (although I have learned that the label has reissued their last album, Ladron). Milagrosa is the work of a mature band, a group of songwriters who have grown together and now what they want to do and how to go about writing it. A line like that would seem to indicate a precision that could sap creativity by way of comfort. Like my thoughts on where they call home, the thought would be, shall we say, imprecise.
The 11 songs are filled with interesting arrangements, and machine-like accuracy, however, above all of that is a loose, jam band quality. It is easy to see that a lot of time went into the creation of these songs, but that jam band quality makes it sound so easy. It is almost like they went into the studio, pressed record, played the album in its entirety and went out to play it again at a party. It is like they did not spend any time writing the album, they all instinctively knew what they had to play. All they needed to do was sit down with their instruments, nod to each other, and launch into it.
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