Brighton Park

RESTOCK. Brighton Park is a fantastical journey; an animated rollercoaster ride through the upbeat theme park - a perpetual chain of cars disappearing into the funhouse - a fearless treading through polluted puddles with pretty colors. This is La Makita Soma's second full length record, a groundbreaking work that marries instrumental rock and techno with undeniable energy.

On their debut Monkey Island, the band defined themselves as a carefree post-rock outfit with an array of talented musicians (ex-lustre king, ex-bill ding) and a blotter of maximum strength acid, turning the heads of mutli-instrumentalist post-rockers and groove-hungry electronic enthusiasts. With their sophomore release the band has taken the lid off the happy jar, pouring forth melodies and foot stomping techno beats that challenge the idle indie-rocker "stand there and nod" cadence. Using vibes, undulating bass, keyboards of old and new, breakbeat drums, trumpets and guitars, the band puts forth an overtly energetic orchestration that expresses a certain excitement about the very prospect of being alive. It's a maximalist display of melodies at once both psychedelic and nostalgic, wrapped up in a modern, avant-garde disco burrito. Fun is a priority with this quintet of quirk, but so is a studious dedication to emotive and challenging music.