Album Review: Federale

The Blood Flowed Like Wine (Federale)

[SPAGHETTI NORTHWESTERN] Conceived as a living tribute to the Westerns of Sergio Leone and the dusty Ennio Morricone soundtracks that accompanied them, Federale has one of the best gimmicks of any band in Portland. Like Quentin Tarantino movies, the band, which spun off from the Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2005, is too enamored with its influences to ever be much more than an exercise in mimicry, but the fun is in seeing how close they come to hitting the mark. The Blood Flowed Like Wine is the ensemble's third album, and at this point the group's instrumental compositions—lush, evocative arrangements of twanged-out guitar; mariachi horns; whistled melodies; and wordless, operatic female vocals—are accurate enough to be mistaken for Morricone originals. This time around, Federale expands its palette into lyrical songs, bringing in Alex Maas of Austin's Black Angels to sing the dirge-y, psychedelic title track, and Spindrift's KP Thomas to recall the sweeping tale of "Django," a slave bent on revenge against his masters. Hey, that sounds like it'd make a great Tarantino film, doesn't it? 

SEE IT: Federale plays Doug Fir Lounge on Friday, Nov. 30. 9 pm. $10. 21+. 

WWeek 2015

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