Calling your band Gringo Star is a surefire way to raise some eyebrows. Throw in the fact that your music immediately conjures the holy trinity of British Invasion bands (Beatles, Kinks and Stones, for those who need more clarity) and you’re doubly damned in the eyes of many purists.
But this Atlanta-based trio, led by brothers Nicholas and Peter Furgiuele, clearly doesn’t seem to care about the naysayers, dropping a pair of finely tuned, psych-tinged Garage Pop albums — 2008’s All Y’all and 2011’s Count Yer Lucky Stars, each recorded with clear-eared precision by veteran knob-turner Ben Allen — that bring to mind everything from the aforementioned ’60s icons to hook-infested contemporaries like Spoon and even the Old ’97s.
While the Gringos’ next full-length is set to drop later this year, a new 7-inch surfaced last December, one that might be a sign of things to come. Self-recorded and -produced in the band’s basement practice space, its a-side, “Go Way Out,” is a hazy mid-tempo number marked by atmospheric organ, surprising Country & Western-inflected guitar flourishes and a tidal wave of tasty “nahs” and “ahhs.”
Expect “Go Way Out” to surface during Gringo Star’s current tour up the East Coast and through the Midwest — rousing, inevitably sweaty live shows in which the band typically transcends whatever historical references might come to mind and gets to the more important business of moving asses.
GRINGO STAR perform Saturday, Jan. 26 at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine with Children of the Emerald Fire. Check out performance times and get venue details here.
