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Ratos De Porao
Posted by Rachel Lux on 11-Jan-08 @ 06:03 PM|
FILE UNDER: Hardcore/Crossover Without Borders YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1981-present RECORD TO START WITH: Sistemados Pelo Crucifa (2000, ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES) AFTER THAT, CHECK OUT: Homem Inimigo Do Homem (2006, ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES), Brasil (1981; 2007, METAL MIND) GO DOWNLOAD: "Morrer," "Onisciente Coletivo," "Buracos Suburbanos," "Crucifados Pelo Sistema," "Aggressao/Repressao," "Expresso Da Escravidão," "Testemunhas Do Apocalipse" THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE: The internet is filthy with weird hardcore fetishes. (Yeah, don't feign ignorance, you pervert. How about some nice Dutch straight edge, or can you only get off on Okinawan D-beat?) But when it comes to non-English-language bands, Brazil's Ratos de Porão ("Basement Rats") are one band you don't need to be a vinyl-hoarding sicko to appreciate, even if you don't speak Portuguese. Their '84 full-length debut, Crucificados Pelo Sistema, was a Brit-influenced ripper that had punks salivating worldwide, long before it became a $300 eBay status symbol. While Noo Yawk hardcore brought punk to the streets, Sao Paolo's RxDxPx were so literally "from the streets" that one of their first gigs was in a supermarket parking lot-and they faced real oppression (think military dictatorship). Anchored by singer João Gordo ("Fat John") and guitarist Jão, the band followed the same trajectory as a lot of their '80s peers-into the sulphurous black heart of metal and back. But uniquely, RDP never chopped off their roots or their new branches: Some of their best records, including last year's Homem Inimigo Do Homem, retains hardcore's organic crunch in its spazzy thrash, as if the family had never split into cranky subgenres. PUNK-ROCK RELEVANCE: According to punk's historian-laureates, RxDxPx were "the first hardcore band in South America!" But as we know from the documentary American Hardcore, the advent of hardcore is no more cut and dried than the discovery of electricity. What's clearer is that RxDxPx were Brazil's first really hard band, the one that loosened the boulder and brought Sepultura, Overdose and so many others rolling down with them. CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Rhythm sections have come and gone, the most traumatic defection being original bassist Jabá in '93, as the band faced drug problems and creative tension. Since 1997, João Gordo has been a VJ for MTV Brazil, but the band's music has hardly gone mainstream. RxDxPx's past three albums-released in the states by Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label-are arguably their best, including 2000's Sistemados Pelo Crucifa, a re-recording the band's debut that includes the original album as a 27-minute hidden track. This month, Metal Mind Music reissues the band's output from '89 through '95. -Andrew Marcus |
