I want chata. More chata!

You just can't say "no" when this one says "mo Chata",

not with these dance moves and style!

.....is what she is yelling once White Sky (track 2) starts playing. Why you ask? Because her (my 3 year old who turns 15 in a few minutes) favorite song, Horchata, just ended and she's got the need for more stomping and dancing across the living and dining rooms. The kid's got taste; it's one of the better tracks on the Contra album (as a continuity note, she also likes Kick Drum Heart, Avett Bros.)...[oooh, see what I did there]...

This song reminds me so much of summer: the start, the middle, the end. Lyrically, the song kind of all over the place but as far as I can tell it's about Mr. Vampie being in a hot climate when...remembering the cold of December elsewhere (probably why it would look pyschotic wearing a balaclava (ski mask)), drinking Horchata...and then moving on to the heavier alcoholic drink, an aranchiata. Such a great song, such a horribly structured and blahhhcck drink (its rice juice.  I'll say it again, rice juice.  R.i.ce. j.u.i.c.e. I don't care how you think it should, could, or is prepared, you can't avoid the fact that it's juice make from rice....oh there's cinnamon too.  So rice juice and tree bark, happy?).

Long tangent...and we're back;  Many reasons come to mind why it still reminds of summer. It's that catchy pump you up for a bbq, party, sunburn booze fest beat that you blast en route to Burger Fest in NYC for example (complements of Messrs. Ryan Koenitzer and Randal Stanco), but also, because whenever my daughter was getting to the end of her car seat tolerance on the way to the York or Wells beach Maine (we lived in Boston only a few months ago), putting on this track bought us at least 3 minutes and 27 seconds...until we hit repeat.  It is a favorite in our house.

So when you turn this track on, dance a little, with your kids too [end sentimental part] and try not to vomit when you think about Mr. Vampie (seriously I think that is the lead singers name, isn't it?) sipping on tepid rice juice on a humid tropical island, dreaming of a New England winter (8 degrees this AM, awesome).

"Join me next time" when I plan to flip back into music review mode and reveal an artist that is exploding world wide that you probably have never heard of from a genre you don't often consider...if ever.  With an open mind to music, I think you may enjoy it at some level.