Critic's evaluation
After releasing a few singles over the course of 2021 and 2022, Os Extintos have finally released their first full-length. Recorded at Giant Step Studio, the debut EP Don't Stop Rocking remains the band's most recent full-length, with only the single The Lonely Wolf having been announced as an unreleased item so far.
The sun doesn't burn, but its heat makes you sweat and your body ask for the sea to cool off and the beach to relax. With a sexy and embryonically provocative freshness, Nicholas Vieira's guitar comes with the proposal not only to promote an attractive ambience, but to dare by bringing an aesthetically mixed sound. Together with Asaf Assunção's dirty and precise drums, the melodic context communicates a synergy between funk, soft rock and hints of Californian hard rock. Sensually grooving through the striking bass and slight stridency of Gustavo Gasperi, whose dexterity is very much influenced by that typical of Flea, the title track, even from the timbre and lyrical cadence structured by Matheus Bueno, does not hide the influence of the Red Hot Chili Peppers suffered by Os Extintos. Even so, it's curious how the band manages to move with versatility between funk and hard rock and still promote verses with a simple but attractive harmony. Emphasizing the velvety character of Bueno's voice, which allows the listener to perceive a similarity to Eric Martin's tone, the title track brings with it a plot in which the lyrical character finds himself tired of the routine and beginning to lose heart. However, without giving up, he plunges into the search for something that will break the doldrums and bring back the burning spice of life. It's no wonder that, in this regard, the most striking verses are "no matter what is blocking, just let it go, go" and "baby don't stop rocking, you can reach the world" in a clear motivational message for the viewer not to stagnate and to keep moving, a movement that can take you to an energetic and electrifying place.
The peaks of the mountains in the distance begin to have their silhouettes clearly marked. As the seconds pass, a mystical clarity clearly shows every detail of the horizon. In its mystical purples and pinks, dawn brings with it a contagious sense of energy. With a slight new wave feel provided by the joint sounds of acid sharpness and a velvety bass exuded by the union of keyboard and piano tying the melodic base together, it doesn't take long for The World Ahead to bring at its core a notable Journey influence in its melodic aesthetic. With the kettledrums already setting the rhythmic pace, gradually accelerating, the song, surprising preconceived expectations, plunges into a dramatic and soft ambience in which the lead guitar tears up, while its eyes stare into the distance, but with a vision that is completely empty because it is intensely introspective. Although, at times, the sweaty sound of the guitar provides a mix of unreasonable references to Victor & Léo and Malta, with special mention of the respective songs Borboletas and Entre Nós Dois, The World Ahead comes with a mostly acoustic proposal with a marked participation of the strident groove of the bass. Evolving into a sunny, warm and pleasant atmosphere in its sensuality, The World Ahead, while showing Bueno exploring the raspy character of his voice, surprises the listener by providing an even more motivational lyricism than that of the title track. Here, in addition to overcoming not a discontinued relationship, but a denial bordering on stubbornness, the song urges the listener to make a self-analysis in order to seek change, behavioral improvement based on resolving old mistakes. The World Ahead is like rebirth, the preparation for a new day.
With its striking bass, like an invitation to a sensual body-to-body dance, the introductory melody already offers a contagious swing and an irresistible coastal Latin vibe. Filled with verses in which the backing vocals occasionally expand the harmony, the song manages to communicate an unreasonable aesthetic familiarity with the one created in Locked Out Of Heaven, a Bruno Mars single. Although not necessarily immersed in funk, this genre is present, but in a subtle way, in the melodic development. With lap steel giving the melodic atmosphere a Hawaiian vibe, Sweet Summer Nights brings a pleasant retro nostalgic atmosphere while, once again, conferring a sudden similarity to another Malta song, Alguém. Pleasant and formal, the song is the first declared ballad from Don't Stop Rocking and features a storyline in which the lyrical character seeks a homecoming as a means of feeling emotionally rebalanced and filled with a contagiously sunny sense of well-being. It's a track that communicates that home, or any place that exerts a sense of comfort and re-energization, is the ideal place to seek when things get tense and worries overwhelm the conscience.
The melody that begins to build through the guitar continues to set the listener up on the beach, while inserting a simple inclination towards the sound of flamenco. Minimalist in structure, but managing to be contagious from this aesthetic, Born For The Sign makes your body hairs stand on end by providing a precise melodic apex in its sensually funky movement. Featuring a singer exploring more of his vocal range and a drummer, through a syncopated groove, bringing a more accelerated and compassionate sound cadence, the song presents well-defined subdivisions that communicate the musical resourcefulness of Os Extintos, while bringing an energetic and thought-provoking lyricism. Like songs such as the title track and The World Ahead, Born For The Sign has a strong motivational intent that not only instigates, but excites the listener, inspired by the lyricism, to look for something that motivates, that takes them out of idleness. That makes your life intense and makes your blood boil. It's life simply calling out to be lived in the most visceral way possible.
There is no sign of virtuosity. What there is, however, is a musical conscience. This is the main quality that Os Extintos exude in Don't Stop Rocking. As their first EP, the material surprises by presenting a sound that is firm and, above all, precise in its aesthetic experimentation.
Musically mature in its entirety, the EP presents the public with a group unafraid to show their influences and daring to fuse them in a context that provides a sound of their own and its intertwining with lyrical plots of an encouraging, energetic and motivating nature.
It's true that there are only four songs, but as they are played, the listener walks through reflective, joyful, tropical, beachy and soft terrain. A set of ambiences that provide a sense of emotions that range from fullness to nostalgia and excitement.
With great and powerful lyrical-melodic works such as the title track, The World Ahead and Born For The Sign, the listener not only feels pleasure and desire for life, but learns to overcome conflicting behavioral issues and becomes aware of the need to find something that brings back the colors, liveliness and energy to the art of living.
There's no denying that, even with these inspirational characters, Don't Stop Rocking is an EP that appeals to the masses and therefore reaches radio interests. Even so, it doesn't come across as an appealing product, but rather as harmonically and melodically well-constructed, in a way that also emphasizes Bueno's good English pronunciation and diction.
With the help of Alexandre Siqueira's production and mixing, these qualities become latent while, in the case of the sound, it is firm, mature, well equalized and therefore audible in all its layers. From this point on, the listener can see, among the fusion of soft rock, alternative rock, hard rock, new wave and funk, a miscellany of influences ranging from Red Hot Chili Pepers to Journey.
Rounding off the technical context is the cover art. Signed by Lakshan Lawrence, it has a mystical, homely feel to it that curiously evokes the idea of being the eye-catcher for a progressive product. Between its different shades of blue and the arrangement of the bust of the four members, the artwork is the weakest part of the material, as it communicates little or nothing of what the lyricism and melodies exhort.
Released on 12/16/2022 in an independent way, Don't Stop Rocking is a strong, striking and mature piece of material from a band that is launching onto the market already showing great awareness of both their music and their own influences. Full of inspiring and motivational lyricism, the material surprises with its audacity to be as balanced and contagious as a debut.
