Folk Magik Presents FEDERALE, MENGERS
Federale is a six-piece ensemble based in Portland, OR. Spearheaded by longtime Brian Jonestown Massacre bassist Collin Hegna, the band was conceived as an outlet to channel inspiration from ‘60s & ‘70s European soundtracks, particularly those from Italy made famous by the Spaghetti Western & Giallo genres. As well as the narrative driven song stylings of Lee Hazlewood and Nick Cave.
As a mournful whistle carves through fevered melancholia, the first stirrings of No Justice‘s title track evoke the mean streets and rusted prairies of a blighted small folk roiling with palpable desperation. Embracing the enormous scope of orchestral cinematic production while subduing the bombast of electrified riffage, Collin Hegna has honed a taut, gleaming precision from his passion project’s signature sound.
Spare yet sumptuous, distilling the lean, gritty essence of grindhouse anomie and wielding orchestral flourishes of widescreen delicacy, No Justice feels like the defining statement of a band fully-realized – a sultry, restless stormcloud arising from the darkness at the edge of town to draw forth the fated reckoning.
Mengers are a power trio from Mexico City that thrive on a noisy and powerful blend of the most incendiary form of rock music. Informed by garage rock, punk, stoner rock and psychedelic music, the sound practiced by the band has been the essence of their art since they formed at the end of 2016. Composed of brothers Carlos (guitar) and Pablo (drums) Calderón, as well as Mauricio Suárez (bass), Mengers started when Pablo got a drum kit as a present on his 15th birthday and soon began knocking out cover songs. They honed their sound playing parties in the Southern part of Mexico City, away from the trendy spots at the time. This allowed the band to make something more energetic, raw, and passionate than most of their contemporaries. As big music fans, the three members of Mengers have an affinity for a wide variety of music. Their first official recordings came in the form of I, recorded by Miguel Fraino of the Venezuelan band Cardiel at Vesubio Grabaciones.
Released in 2018, it allowed the band to play stages of various sizes, including appearances at festivals like Burger Revolution Mexico, Marvin, and Toguiza, as well as touring in various cities around Mexico. This has prepared them to bring us GOLLY, their most ambitious effort to date and an album that will have fans of frenetic guitar music going wild.
