Look Mexico - The Crucial EP (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Look Mexico

The Crucial EP (2006)

Atlas


Here's a good one. Look Mexico channel the wandering reflectivity of acts like American Football and Minus the Bear for a sprawling slab of semi-atmospheric, instrumental-dependent indie rock on The Crucial EP, a little pre-cursor to satiate listeners while the band works on their first full-length for Lujo Records.

The first moment the band's lead vocalist opens his mouth, however, on "I Can't Today, I'm on Duty," you'll think he's an awfully nasally character. Fortunately, this is the worst he gets, and as the band often delve into extended jams during the course of Crucial's five songs, it becomes a moot point anyway. Whoever it is (credits are a seemingly hard draw), he does have his moments, showing some fairly impressive emotional depth in the chorus of "Call Off Your Lap Dog" and sporadic, delicate moments in the time change-laden "Come On, We Are Talking About You Here." He isn't nearly as commanding as, say, Copeland's Aaron Marsh (no, seriously), but I think there's potential for him to reach that level. Again, this is sort of a pointless analysis, as Look Mexico's talent and subsequent attraction really lies in their compelling, drawn out instrumental theatrics. Songs like the poignant, all-instrumental "Guys, I Need a Helicopter" manage to trail through complex but understandable layers, lightly bouncing soft chords off each other in front of percussion work that's no less absorbing.

If you look up the entries for "potential" in the thesaurus, I can't assure you you'll actually find "Look Mexico" among the listings. But I'd highly recommend Merriam-Webster consider this addendum.

STREAM
He Bit Me
I Can't Today, I'm on Duty
Call Off Your Lap Dog