Os Haxixins - Os Haxixins (#5, 2007)

Somewhere to think, Need to leave you.
It appeared to me on grass, And if the rocks should fall.
David and his irises, In some place of mind - Rays.
Behind the UFO's, Between some sisters.
Later I come back... Acid driven, I returned crazy.
I go with the new! - títulos da canção


"Onde Meditar" from Os Haxixins (2007)

Ignoring the last three decades of musical advances (hell, three and a half!), Os Haxixins do one thing: mid-'60s garage-psych. And they do do it well. Drugs, fuzz, and rockin' in the streets of Sao Paolo, Brazil! Next time you have a happening and it freaks you out... you'll have been to a party where they were playing Os Haxixins, but never one where Os Haxixins were playing!! Based on this interview, I think the name is either Portuguese for Assassins or has something to do with hashish, or is a play on the connection between those.

Seriously, they've got the whole scene down. Songs rush by, with 17 in 40 minutes on the album, 3 minutes is an epic. You get some Mayo Thompson vocal stylings on "Dirty Old Man" (live), but overall, beyond the language, it could be any American punk band from the '60s with a fuzzbox and cheap organ. And it feels as vital as anything since the originals. "Preciso Te Deixar", "Surgia por Sobre a Relva" (live) - that's right, I'm just throwing song links in randomly!


***After tinkering with this, dropping the volume, upping the quality... I think that's the best I can do, without making it a 10min load. The album does not have that fluttering though.***

Not sure if it's purely the garage influence or just the similar levels of studio experience, but they get everything so right/wrong so effortlessly. The way certain instruments (guitar and organ) are so out front, weird early fade-outs while things are still going, etc... Most of the available clips are live (and YouTube), so it doesn't really convey the garage authenticity of the actual recordings. But the songs and the playing are up to the pure sounds of the freakout! Check out the interplay on the back half of "E Se as Pedras Cairem" (embedded above). Or "Em Algum Lugar da Mente" (live), or "Raios" (live)... I want them playing the Astral Headspace Fest 2010!!



There's another studio one, "Depois eu Volto!" And another from the album, "Acido Fincado!" And "Eu Vou de Novo" (live).

Okay. Awesome, right? Here's the A-side to last year's fantastic single, "Depois de um LSD" ("After Some LSD")! Something tells me Mtv Brasil is slightly cooler than the American version... ever was.




Oh, I looked it up: "haxixe" is Portuguese for hashish.

Official/Myspace - myspace.com/oshaxixins
Purchase - Bomp Store [LP]
iTunes - Not yet...

Genre - Brazilian '60s Fuzz Garage
Review - Alborde