Os Mutantes

Brazilian psychedelic garage group Os Mutantes was one of the vanguards of the tropicália movement that found Brazilian artists getting wise to The Beatles, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Luc Godard in the late ’60s. But like compatriots Caetano Veloso and Tom Zé, Os Mutantes were concerned with tending their Brazilian roots even while ripping them out. The band’s latest incarnation—founder Sergio Dias with a new group behind him—stays true to the sound and spirit of its 1968 debut on 2009’s Haih… Or Amortecedor, Os Mutantes’ first new album in 35 years, about half of which was co-written by Zé. Though it lacks the raw invention and freshness of early work (how couldn’t it?), Haih’s slinky, freewheeling energy makes it a worthy point of return.

Updated 11/03/2010