The Gringos: The Animal Kingdom Review
The Gringos are an up and coming blues rock group out of Brazil formed in 2014, which features four Americans and one native born Brazilian. The Animal Kingdom is the group’s sophomore album and features 15 psychedelic blues rock tracks. Get ready because The Gringos are a band to watch.
The album opens with the instrumental “The Descent,” which gives the vibe of taking a trip into the wilderness. “Candy Coated Nightmare” follows, which is the first single off the album and features smooth, melodic guitar and a hypnotizing solo. “Fight Or Flight” is next, which has a Doors vibe, and you can tell The Doors are a major influence throughout. This is especially evident on “The Book Of Life” where lead singer João Castilhos tells the story of an encounter with a homeless man. Coming in at over seven minutes, it’s an epic track with a style not often heard today in modern blues and rock.
One of the strength’s of The Animal Kingdom is its uniqueness. There just isn’t much out there today that sounds like this album. “Of Atoms and Evenings” has an acapella intro before transitioning into some beautiful acoustic guitar playing. “The Space I Occupy” is one of the catchier tracks on the album beginning with some wah-wah guitar. It’s a groovy, psychedelic track with a catchy chorus. The Animal Kingdom also features several extended jams and “Van Gogh Syndrome” is an absolutely epic track coming in at nearly nine minutes. This is another track featuring Castilhos’ storytelling and an encounter with a homeless man. It’s one trippy tune that makes for good listening to any sort of extra curricular activity you can think of. “Prometheus” is another epic track featuring some truly virtuosic performances.
If you like jam bands look no further than The Gringos. Coming in at over an hour and half of music with 15 tracks there is plenty of material to dive into. The Animal Kingdom is one of the most unique and creative albums of 2017. While The Gringos may be Brazil’s best kept secret they certainly deserve a large global audience. The musicianship is top notch with great performances all around.
The Review: 9/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Candy Coated Nightmare
– Fight Or Flight
– The Book Of Life
– Of Atoms and Evenings
– The Space I Occupy
– Van Gogh Syndrome
– Prometheus
The Big Hit
– Candy Coated Nightmare
Review by Pete Francis
Buy the album: Amazon
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I found the track ‘Candy Coated Nightmare’ on BRR album sampler vol 9 and think it is great. Looking forward to hearing the complete album. Thanks for the sample BRR!
Thanks so much, Alick, for this comment. We’re encouraged by your words! Hope you enjoyed the whole album! Please feel free to reach out, send us a direct message, anytime!
Daniel great work on this unique and outstanding album.
All the best with your growing fan base and much more coverage to come