Review: Pega Monstro – Alfarroba

Pega Monstro
Alfarroba

Upset the Rhythm
Street: 07.06
Pega Monstro = Moonhearts x Slowdive

Pega Monstro—Portuguese for “catch the monster”—are sisters Júlia and Maria Reis, who take the strive n’ drive of punk and weave it into a subtly dreamy texture. The duo’s latest release, Alfarroba, kicks off raucously with “Braço de Ferro” (“Arm Wrestling”), a wildfire track. Both of the sisters sing, and throughout, the album carries a push-and-pull, an ascent and downpour. It never sits still, but it never  exhausts, either: Amid the snare rolls, ringing cymbals and carousing guitar, the duo choruses steadily and earnestly with surprising, below-the-surface lightness. Each track is grounded and propelled by solid and relentless instrumentals, which, when combined with the vocals, carry Alfarroba into that mesmerizing and rapturous genre of dream punk—rapturous because, while there’s an infectious—almost dizzying—restlessness throughout, the vocals float, somehow, with shimmering ease. –Kathy Zhou