Zarco – Spazutempo (Cuca Monga CM0011, 2019)
Zarco is a Group from the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. The name of the band pays tribute to the Portuguese navigator João Gonçalves Zarco.
Originally, Zarco was made up of five musicians led by Gastão Reis, who unfortunately recently died in the city of Lisbon in a building explosion (R.I.P.).
The five members of the group met at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. Gastão and Joe were influenced by the progressive rock of the 70s, and by the music of Frank Zappa but also by the music of Fausto Bordalo, Jóse Mário Branco, and Sergio Godinho.
In 2017, they recorded the songs that make up the digital EP Zarcotráfico, a wonderful work full of progressive rock, psychedelia and hard progressive in the style of Portuguese groups.
In 2019 with ¡Venga, Venga! They record a song only in digital format. In 2019, they released an album in compact-disc format, to date the only work in physical format, with the strange title Spazutempo.
The album has nine songs of unequal length, from “Vitamin Z” at 2:42 min. to “Tava Num Bar” clocking 6:17 min.
Zarco has a very good vocalist and guitarist, Fernando Blu, who also plays clarinet and piano. The group complements each other well, and the songs have good instrumental developments based on counterpoints, which at some point remind us of the English band Gentle Giant, with changes of rhythm. Notably, it is very intense and complex music, with hints of Canterbury Sound, R.IO. in rare moments, as well as influences from Portuguese traditional music, and progressive rock.
Together with Reis Da República, Black Bombaim and Solar Corona, one of the best that has come out lately in Portugal, within the aforementioned styles of music. Watch out for this group, it’s really good, I mean, VERY GOOD!
Musicians: Gastão Reis on bass and vocals; Pedro Santos on drums; Fernando Blu on electric guitar, clarinet, piano, lead vocals; João “Joe” Nunes on electric guitar, vocals; João Salas on keyboards, vocals.
Buy Spazutempo.