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You may recall the New York-based band Brazilian Girls. It’s a rocking little ensemble, but somewhat misnamed: there are no girls from Brazil in it. Well along comes a band from Brazil called Garotas Suecas. That means Swedish Girls, but, again, no girls from Sweden in that band. Like Brazilian Girls, the misnomer doesn’t matter. The music is still great. The World’s Marco Werman has more. Download MP3
Songs played in this Global Hit:
ARTIST: Garotas Suecas
ALBUM: Escaldante Banda
TRACKS PLAYED:
1. Ela
2. Tudo Bem
3. Alma
Read the Transcript
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LISA MULLINS: Closing the show now, as always, with music. You might recall the New York-based band Brazilian Girls. It’s a rocking little ensemble, but somewhat misnamed. It has no girls from Brazil in it. Well, along comes a band from Brazil. It’s called Garotas Suecas. That means Swedish Girls. But, again, no girls from Sweden in that band. Like Brazilian Girls, though, the misnomer doesn’t really matter. The music is still pretty great. Here’s The World’s Marco Werman with today’s Global Hit.
MARCO WERMAN: No Swedish girls in the Brazilian band Garotas Suecas. But that doesn’t mean the band has no relationship to Sweden. Garotas Suecas was trying to settle on a name for itself in 2008, right in the middle of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Brazil’s first World Cup championship. That victory was in 1958, and the tournament that year was held in Sweden. Brazil’s national team had introduced 17-year-old star Pele to the world, and gone on to the finals against the host country. And during the World Cup, it’s a fact that there were a number of Brazilian soccer players who began dating Swedish girls. It led to what’s known in Sweden as the Brazilian Baby Boom. It gives you a sense of what Garotas Suecas is all about. Having fun by mixing Brazilian sounds with western rock and funk. The retro sound of Garotas Suecas is such an authentic tribute to Brazilian samba soul and rock from the sixties, that it feels deliberate. But the six players in the band actually met by chance at an open mic in their neighborhood in Sao Paolo. And they formed Garotas Suecas not because they had a musical agenda, but because they all had the same musical tastes. That variety of styles emerges on tracks like Tudo Bem. The opening riff on the tune sounds like an homage to the Kinks, then merges into a Memphis horn session. Garotas Suecas takes it all on board. Wah-wah guitars and Farfisa organs, a San Francisco rock sound, and cool lyrics with great harmonies. As Spin magazine recently commented, if Brazilian legends Os Mutantes had listened to less Beatles and more Seeds and Otis Redding, then they might’ve sounded something like Garotas Suecas. They’ve won an MTV video award in Brazil. And they’re now awaiting American listeners to show them the same sort of love. For The World, I’m Marco Werman.
MULLINS: From the Nan and Bill Harris Studios at WGBH in Boston, I’m Lisa Mullins. That does it for us today. Join us tomorrow for another spin of The World.
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