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Published on 7/4/08
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In the late ’60s, an oil boom in the Peruvian Amazon brought country folk into the cities and there emerged a new populist sound, chicha. Named for a traditional corn liquor, chicha came to denote an amalgamation of the traditional and modern Andean melodies and Cuban percussion plus rock instrumentation. The Roots of Chicha compiles tracks from this unknown golden age in Peruvian music–—when homegrown melodies and the rhythms of Colombia’s cumbia were realized with surf-rock guitar, fuzz boxes and groovy organ riffs. It was briefly positive party music for a working population that suddenly had spare cash for nightclubs, booze and electric guitars.
Roots is one amazing listen: The tunes are backed with almost unvarying Latin rhythms suited for long nights at the dancehall, which is far from unique, but with the electric guitars roaming the Andean pentatonic scales, it can get freaky. “Muchachita Del Oriente” by Los Mirlos has bizarre bass and keyboards to compete with its “Telstar”-style surf guitar—Joe Meek would have been proud to put his name on it.
It might be tempting to think of chicha as a bit like Brazilian tropicalia, but it’s far from it. Music for working people, its lyrics were often about regional pride, not revolution. It also never made it outside of Peru, instead absorbed into Lima’s more worldly scene and today, unfortunately, is usually played on cheesy keyboards with canned rhythms. So while vintage recordings like Los Diablos Rojos’ “El Guapo” crackle, that doesn’t diminish the pleasures of this little-known organic union of Latin rhythm and rock.
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