Meridian Brothers La Policia

A tribute to the sound of '70s Salsa Colombiana cooked up by mad genius Eblis Alvarez, who warps the genre out of shape as only someone who deeply loves and understands it can. Referencing the well-worn riffs and song structure of classic salsa dura but at the same time cunningly innovative musically and lyrically, this "Renaissance" version of Alvarez's band Meridian Brothers offers two twisted takes on the traditional idiom. In La Policía Alvarez delivers sardonic eye-witness reportage on Bogotá's dirty cops, while Poema del Salsero Resentido [Tale Of A Bitter Salsero] ponders the fate of Bogotá's salsa scene, positing that (in a nod to Alvarez's hardcore group Los Pirañas) "the hard salseros became punks" ["los salseros duros se volvieron punketos"], an acknowledgement to the immutable power of the "radioactive, annihilating rhythm" ["ritmo radioactivo y aniquilador"] in all its varied forms. The single is housed in a picture sleeve designed by Colombian artist Mateo Rivano that pays homage to the cheesecake photo shoots that adorned so many '70s classics.