Brazilian psych group RAKTA have released an excellent 7”, serving as a followup release to 2013’s debut self-titled album. Sounding like a crossbreed between Chile’s Holy Drug Couple and Sweedish based rockers Goat, Rakta comes together to form a worldy neo-psychedlic style that is hard to resist.
The first track on the 7” is “Tudo que é sólido”, an in-your-face jammer with thudding drums and chanting vocals, channeling a female version of Brian Case, lead singer of Disappears. Halfway through the song bursts into full on psych-punk with crazy distortion. As the song grows, lagging guitars and echoing vocals tangle together and create a scuzzy masterpiece.
“Serpente” is on the B-side, which is a bit more reserved at first. This is where the Holy Drug Couple’s sound starts to come through with relatively unchanging patterns, yet still undoubtedly attracting warped ears. For a Western located band, the track swirls in Eastern influence with a sitar-like melody in the background and a clatter of tambourines.
Rakta offers a spin on the Americanized psych-rock sound by cutting in dashes of culture and flavorful twists. These ladies have certainly honed in on their sound, and it’s just a matter of time before we see it all come out on their future releases.