In a rare display of earnest self-awareness, Bay Area trio
Totimoshi were the first to admit that 2008's
Milagrosa -- their fifth full-length and first for Volcom Entertainment -- was something of a transitional project; comprising vocalist/guitarist
Tony Aguilar and bassist Meg Castellanos' determined effort to not only distance themselves from once dominant post-grunge influences (particularly drawn from the
Melvins and
Nirvana), but to incorporate their shared Latin heritage into what could loosely be deemed a concept album. The son of migrant farm workers, chief songwriter
Aguilar reportedly drew from personal experience to convey the feelings, if not the precise meanings, behind his generally very oblique lyrics throughout
Milagrosa, and, at their most cynical, distressing, and distorted laments like "El Emplazado," "Last Refrain," "The Whisper," and "Dear," to painfully express the nomadic immigrant's gloomy outlook for this world, and frail hopes for the next. Thankfully, the album isn't alI doom and gloom from start to finish (almost, but not quite), as the storm clouds admit just a glimmer of sunshine's hope within the rhythmic thrust of "Milagroso" and the yearning melodies of "Little Bee," then fuel what's left with a grim sort of determination that wills the human spirit to make the best of what life brings. And amid all this textual depression, it's in their increasingly inventive and unpredictable musical experiments that
Totimoshi remain notably upbeat, as they insistently thwart traditional rock songwriting arrangements to stop and start, twist and turn into unforeseen dynamic variants within the likes of "Sound the Horn," the aforementioned "Milagroso," and the uniquely acoustic "Forever in Bone (Los Dos)." So even though occasional shards of barbed-wire, latter-day grunge like "Fall and Bound," "Seeing Eye," and the dissonant lurch of "Gnat" still hark back to their previous albums, they also fit quite seamlessly into
Milagrosa's quickly evolving sonic aesthetic. And, in the end, whether intentionally or by accident, the album's more unified thematic concept actually serves to temper some of its incremental musical adventurousness making
Milagrosa both more challenging and engaging than
Totimoshi's previous efforts, while coming ever closer to establishing their own, unique style. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia