The Off Beat: Chicano Batman’s Hi-Fi Good Vibes
Carlos Arévalo talks optimistic new album before Austin Psych Fest
By Carys Anderson, Fri., April 26, 2024
Apart from ACL and SXSW, April 26-28 might now be one of the biggest weekends on the Austin music calendar. Revamped in 2023 from turn-of-the-century event Antone’s Blues Festival, the Austin Blues Festival stages concerts by Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, and more at Waterloo Park. Meanwhile, the Black Angels’ own refresh, Austin Psych Fest, brings Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, and other rockers to the Far Out Lounge.
To help you choose a weekend destination, the Chronicle spoke with one artist from each: Saturday bluesman Bobby Rush and Friday psych-soul outfit Chicano Batman.
When Carlos Arévalo describes the root emotions in Chicano Batman’s March album Notebook Fantasy, he uses only two words: love and pain. The thesis sounds simple enough – until you realize it encapsulates the entirety of the human condition. The Los Angeles trio usually hangs in the pocket of funky psychedelic soul, but to capture such intense sensations, they had to go grander.
“The whole idea was to try to get a hi-fi, big sounding album,” Arévalo says. “We wanted to get away from our comfort zone, which has generally been crusty sounding, a little distorted, a little lo-fi.”
Guitarist Arévalo, bassist Eduardo Arenas, and singer Bardo Martinez ignored modern conventions, tapping producer John Congleton not for playlist-ready singles, but a cohesive album, filled with ballads and bops in equal measure. “Maybe it’s outdated,” Arévalo says of the approach, “but we felt like it was effective for our artistic statement.”
Slower moments like “Era Primavera” and “Fairytale Love” utilize cinematic strings, an addition Arévalo says his bandmates pitched. He came up with the project’s more upbeat tracks, including sensual lead single “Fly” and groovy opener “Live Today.” The latter song’s chilled-out advice (“Keep out all the bad vibes/ Just do what you want to”) introduces the kind of primal optimism permeating Notebook Fantasy – notably, Chicano Batman’s first post-pandemic release.
“We all went through loss during COVID,” Arévalo shares. “We had family members pass away.” Zooming out, he adds, “These are very divisive, hateful times we live in, if you let it get to you in that way. So how do you overcome it?”
“Just like Bob Marley always said, it’s just about one love,” he answers. “So that’s what the music’s about. Just trying to get to the essence of humanity.”
