Dark, dank, and hellish is the steam ship helmed by Manta Ray, but that's just the beginning; take a tour through Torres de Electricidad -- which translates to Towers of Electricity -- and you'll find landmarks of all different denominations, scripted to run into one another like a dramatic tome about a voyage, a conflict, and an eventual battle that takes many lives into its clutches. We can scratch out the likeness of Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and infinite other indie-rock forbearers from the tidal moods of Torres, but when the trumpets of "No Tropieces" sound and the bulbous, Beefheartian shuffle of "El Despertar" makes its rounds, the all-out originality of Manta Ray's anti-rock zeitgeist becomes palpable.
Guilty of obeying the typical rule of straight-ahead rock at times – angularity – Manta grip a centric rhythm on many of their songs but refuse to be chained to any singular idea, segueing from 4/4 marches to oddly timed "get off yer ath" math explorations with lots of history behind them, despite their Ziploc freshness. Jose Luis Garcia will surely be dubbed a Latin Guy Piccotio, and that's... Okay, because his Spanish-language singing, while passable and certainly not guilty of dragging Manta Ray's mojo into the dirt, is only a store-window attraction, somewhat pleasing at first and quickly forgotten once other displays/items/trinkets – such as the rapturous double-drumming/canny sax swipes of "Torres de Electricidad" and the quirky string sweeps of "Anada para Celia" – capture the ear.
Another group with an astounding family tree and little to show for their past, save small pockets of dedicated fans, Manta Ray exude the sort of sounds that can only leak from the pores of a group that knows its strengths. Well aware of their limits after a few experimental releases, this Spain ensemble poke at the parameters of their chosen genre viciously without slipping too far into the stratosphere, plying a rich palette of influences to achieve truly unique ends, rendering the 'skip' button on your CD player obsolete as a Violent Femmes record from the late '80s.
1. Don't Push Me
2. No Tropieces
3. El despertar
4. Mi Dios mentira
5. Anada para Celia
6. Por que evadirse a otros mundos aun mas pequenos
7. Como la sal
8. Todo puede cambiar
9. No avant-garde (eletronik)
10. Torrers de electridad
More about: Manta Ray
