When a band glimpses infinity, tongue-kisses the sun, and releases a five-song slab totaling 31 minutes and 18 seconds, you gotta ask: "How can they call this an EP?" The new self-titled Arboles Libres release is one of those sprawling, little cosmic riddles.
Sure, the track count is right -- "Aurora," "Comienzos," "Yellow Man," "The Spirit Of," and "Dry Your Tears" -- but this thing runs about as long as most Beatles albums and longer than the average Twilight Zone rerun.
"Even though they're long songs, it's not like a Yes record," says Forward Motion Records head Fernando Perdomo. "It's not pretentious at all."
Sucked from somewhere beyond this plane of existence, this trippy, occasionally hushed, Spanglish sesh was produced by Perdomo and mastered by Grammy-winner Zach Ziskin. "I really wanted to capture the live sound of Arboles Libres," explains Perdomo. "They've been playing together for over a year now. And they can read each other's minds."
He continues: "I used live recording techniques. Then we cut vocals separately. All the music you hear -- except for a couple of keyboard overdubs, gang and lead vocals -- is just these guys jamming in my room."
"I hate to use this term because it's been generalized into a genre. But this is true emo music. You hear emotion in their playing."
Tonight's Arboles show is gonna be a CD and poster sale, too. The deal: A four-page wallet with disc and lyric book costs $5 while posters (either a blown-up version of the album cover or "Arboles Libres" scrawled in a crazy metal font) cost $3. Or score both for $7.
Now go buy that slab. Glimpse infinity. Kiss the sun.
Arboles Libres' EP-release party. Bardot Miami, 3456 N. Miami Ave., Miami. The show starts at 10 p.m. and it's free. 305-576-7750; bardotmiami.com.
