Album Review: Julian Curwin - The Mango Balloon Vol. 2

Julian Curwin's scaled-back version of The Tango Saloon, affectionately known as The Mango Balloon, sound as one might expect them to if one is familiar with Curwin's work. The eight-piece Tango Saloon play moderately groovy, jazz-influenced tango songs a la Spaghetti Western soundtracks. Curwin's guitar and leadership is imperative to their sound, which has always worked better live than on record. So how does The Mango Balloon Volume 2, the second release of the sextet version Saloon, sound on the record?

The album shuffles into being with Dancing On My Own Grave, a relaxed lounge track with bossa nova-sounding grooves and classic Getz/Gilberto-reminiscent guitar, featuring guest vocals from Brian Campeau. The track sounds polished and lovely, but it never really goes anywhere. This is a constant feeling throughout the record. There's little wrong with any of tracks, but they're often forgotten before they're even through. Album highlight, Grindhouse, sounds (perhaps unsurprisingly) like it would be well at home on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack; very surf-rock, groovy and damn fun. The other standout track, the album's definite greatest, is closer, On The Road. It buzzes and hisses with an ominous, post-punk grunge behind the jazzy, Latin American guitar flourishes. These two songs do transcend the album as a whole, though are just too little an indication of what this small sextet could be doing if they broke free of restraint.

The record barely hints at what's possible from this style of music. It's relaxing and not all together boring, but it may just be destined to be played at low volumes in an ill-conceived Spanish tapas restaurant on the north coast.