Fracaso Hippie

Venimos al Mundo

Instead of going for the same three production styles that dictate the norm now (dream-poppy ambiance, pseudo lo-fi vintage psychedelics or glossy synth-driven monotony) Fracaso Hippie aims for a folkier, more organic sound, in the vein of early Fleet Foxes, Other Lives and Natalia Lafourcade.

The first time I read the name Fracaso Hippie, a certain image and band sound came to mind, but I never bothered to find out if my suspicions were correct, and since the people from my contacts that kept on championing them usually keep sharing the same style of music, it didn’t seem that I was missing something worth my time. However, after the premiere of their debut LP, Venimos al Mundo, I decided to finally give them a chance, and I must admit that, while I wasn’t that charmed, I also cannot say that listening to the album more than once was an ordeal like with other releases that we have reviewed.

Venimos al Mundo is not breaking any molds, but when it comes to the current state of the Mexican indie-pop scene, their versatility surely feels like a breath of fresh air amongst all the redundant aesthetic of projects like Daniel, Me Estás Matando, Negrø, Padre Kino, Little Jesus or any other band that one would book for an It’s All Sunshine and Flowers festival. I mean, Fracaso Hippie still fits into that demographic (should they come to Tijuana, who else are they going to play with if not Entre Desiertos or Jardín… oh, it has already happened? Well… there you go) but other projects might want to take notes and follow their footsteps, specially when it comes to presenting interesting pieces that still retain an accessible façade.

Instead of going for the same three production styles that dictate the norm now (dream-poppy ambiance, pseudo lo-fi vintage psychedelics or glossy synth-driven monotony) Fracaso Hippie aims for a folkier, more organic sound, in the vein of early Fleet Foxes, Other Lives and Natalia Lafourcade. If you’re old enough, a lot of moments in this album will take you back to the early 2000s when indie was becoming more of a household term, and the hipster stereotype as we currently know it was barely making its way into the collective unconscious.

This inherently throwback nature on Fracaso Hippie’s sound works for them and against them. They clearly weren’t aiming for nostalgia, but they don’t seem to be aiming for advancement either. The song-writing is creative and dynamic, but whenever they hit a note, or even the smallest nuance, of someone else’s sound, it’s just too notorious. “La Visita” is a mini epic with really interesting arrangements (and percussion), but it will be hard not to think of Porter because of the vocals’ inflection; “Olvídame” is the obligatory folk piece to show the audience that not everything is about electric guitars and effect pedals, but it veers too close to Jorge Drexler’s sound or Natalia Lafourcade circa Hu Hu Hu.

I will admit that I was a little disappointed in the fact that the band wasn’t able to keep up the quality and the vibe from the first song throughout the album. “Rosa” is deep and mesmerizing, and the way it slowly transitions from folk to dark psychedelia without losing its essence, is just gorgeous; too bad it is the shortest track when it easily could have been the longest. Instead, closer “Venimos al Mundo” gets that distinction, but it works since it conveys a chilling and, tragically melancholic, send-off: after seven minutes of an Arcade Fire-esque run and an uneventful crescendo, the way the ukelele slowly fades as the voice decays and disappears create a haunting moment. Considering that the song is about one of the most fundamental questions humanity has ever uttered “why do we have to die?” the choice to end it that was pretty accurate.

The rest of the tracks have hit-or-miss moments, in the sense that some of the production choices don’t always work: The way the voice cracks to kind of add a son or huapango flare to “Olvídame” just sounds awkward and forced; the rocking outro on “Presencia” is a nice surprise and somewhat unexpected, but it comes off as a little odd compared with what the band was already building up to that point, but it’s easy to imagine an audience happily chanting along in a very emotive scene, just like that Blur video where they play “The Universal” at Glastonbury.

Will Fracaso Hippie end up being just another one of those bands that are granted immunity from criticism just because they make friendly music? Maybe, but they are undoubtedly following a different path than most of the other bands, even if they still share some traits with what’s currently trending. Furthermore, Venimos al Mundo is clearly an improvement from what they did on their 2014 demo, which had a much more straightforward sound. Now, the compositions feel alive and nuanced due to their imperfections, but their sincerity is palpable, and ultimately, that is a great virtue in this market saturated with projects that exist just because they can.

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