Psuedo Desnudo is the brainchild of the up and coming Texas resident Alejandro Gomez-Leos, who wrote, performed, and produced this entire album. Somewhere between punk, psychedelic, krautrock, blues, and various forms of pop, Spectre One doesn’t stay in one place very long, collecting old and new tracks into one very unconventional location.
“Pendant” starts the record soulful and certainly retro inspired with raw production, and “Through The Snow” follows with a louder display of some sort of outsider pop where calm vocals suit the lo-fi climate.
There’s 16 tracks here, and not a single one resembles anything typical. This includes the soothing vocal cooing of the gentle ”Heaven’s Crystals,” while “College Station Blues” sounds like it would come through on the AM dial in its minimalist folk delivery. Album standout “The Return” is then a hazy dip into experimental and absolutely ’80s territory with its shimmering quality.
Deep highlights bring us the jangly and gritty “I Got A Gun” and “For In Which Was Felt,” which glides with throwback pop ideas amid light drumming and melodic singing. “Find A Man,” another strong tune, then presents a more post-punk fueled environment, where a speedy pace and almost goth-like feel bring similarities to The Cure or even New Order.
Pseudo Desnudo defies easy classification here, as his song craft sounds like it could have been birthed in any decade since the ’60s. Like everything on the Cudighi Records label, it’s an iconoclastic take on traditional pop and one that’s never glossed over; it retains plenty of tape hiss, ambience, imperfection in its artistic presentation.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your feelings towards the medium, this one’s only available physically on a cassette, but it’s high quality tape and comes with eye catching artwork and a nice layout from Kevin McKay.
