Watussi, pronounced ‘Wah-too-see’, is a multicultural Australian collective led by afro-wielding Colombian maestro Oscar Jimenez, who have released their first full-length album under the watchful eye of producer Scott Horscroft, famous for acts such as Silverchair. And it’s an impressive piece of work. The band is a full-on eight piece, capable of a huge sound which seems to cover everything from Tequila-fuelled ass-shakin rhythms through to do the type of raw energy that someone might associate with an unplugged version of Rage Against the Machine: with horns! It’s a big call, but a single listen and you’ll get it.

The production of Tequila, Sangre y Fuego seems to capture that live feel in a similar way that Vanda and Young captured the early sounds of AC/DC; raw, minimal polish with strong sounds and feeling of real instruments. In fact, two of the tracks titled Interlude 1 and Interlude 2 were recorded live and feed into the next song to give them a raw edge. The effect blurs the line between live and studio and really gives you a solid feel for the sound.

Echale Feugo is an energetic track that catches the big soundscape and multiple local tracks that somehow reminds me of the Resin Dogs’ early work, resplendent with time changes, foreign lyrics, a bit of flute and beautiful rhythm guitar. Mira mixes in some ambient background with that chunky raw guitar that RATM use so effectively. At times Oscar’s voice overlaid on his tight rhythm section reminds me of Rob Thomas playing with Santana. Very cool; chicks would find it pretty sexy as well. Unfortunately some of them might be our mums but hey, who’s discriminating. Mira was previously remixed and included on a Fresh Jams compilation.

The band demonstrates their extensive range with Treasure which has overtones of a rasta and reggae. It’s one of the songs that put in front of the right producers would easily fit into playlists of some of the popular radio shows. In fact, their previous EPs Fling of the Major Bling and Decide Yourself got national airplay on JJJ amongst others.

This CD has undergone heavy rotation in my collection, anything up to 20 listens as it is just such a solid and tight piece of work. There is no doubt however that my favourite track on the CD is Candela; energy, mixed up lyrics and some really a really tough sounding guitar. It currently pumped up to a huge volume as this review is being penned. I have no idea what ‘Candela’ means though. To finish off is the aptly titled Finale which once again uses some live sound grabs, presumably from one of their own shows. Listen on, a bit of hidden track groove magic is there.

This is definitely a release worth considering buying. Whilst a lot of foreign lyrical content is threaded throughout the tracks, the energy, excitement and cheekiness makes it instantly accessible. No doubt we will hear more from this band and I can’t wait to the opportunity to see them play live.

For more information, go to www.watussi.com.au.