Groove With Chicano Batman’s New Album ‘Invisible People’
West Coast band Chicano Batman released their new album Friday, packed with funky beats and lyrics for the resistance.
Progressive lyrics with hard-hitting synth-funk beats is what sets West Coast group Chicano Batman apart from today’s mainstream. Their newest album Invisible People was released today via ATO Records, and sees 12 tracks that embody modern hip-hop, experimental rock like that of Can, and William Onyeabor funk.
The album was produced by Leon Michels, who’s worked with A$AP Rocky and the Expressions among numerous others, and mixing was thanks to Shawn Everett, known for previous work on Vampire Weekend, Alabama Shakes, and Beck albums. Recorded primarily at Barefoot Studios, the Hollywood recording studio made famous under the name Crystal Industries by hosting artists such as Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix, Invisible People explores the strange yet wonderful world of Los Angeles. Chicano Batman’s vocalist and keyboardist Bardo Martinez evokes empowerment in the album’s title track, where he speaks upon the band’s experiences with racism.
“Because of where we’re from or where our parents are from, we’re still seen as second-class citizens in this country,” Martinez said. “Through our whole experience with touring we’ve felt the reality of racism in the South and the West and all over the place; it’s there within the hierarchy of race in the indie-rock world too.”
But Invisible People also serves as resistance to the racism they’ve encountered. “It’s taking a stand on what we’re about and what we believe,” said bassist Eduardo Arenas. “We’re saying, ‘Your racism, your classism—it’s not getting to me. I don’t have to prove that you’re not better than me, because I can just play my music, and you can feel everything I’m trying to communicate.’”
Listen to Invisible People below.
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