Album Review: PES’s Corales Prematuros (En Vivo)

Peruvian-fronted rock band offers a daring approach of their debut EP

Reviewed by Cy White, Fri., July 12, 2024

Crisp musicianship defines the live rendition of Corales Prematuros. (photo by Collin Eason)

PES, the brainchild of Lima, Perú-born Salvatore Sissa Machado, made its way into my periphery by chance. When Machado’s debut live EP, Corales Prematuros, skittered across my desk, I was intrigued enough to give it a listen. I was pleasantly surprised. These musicians have chops, and the music is easy to fall into, regardless of being all in Spanish. In fact, easy-listening rock-pop drenched in romance is all the more reason to kind of fall in love with it.

Precocious is the word that comes to mind. All the confidence of a seasoned band while still retaining a lot of the postpubescent charm of a college jam band. It’s risky, releasing a live album when very few have seen you perform. Your audience has to dig your music enough to be invested in a performance for which they didn’t intend to be in attendance. But, hey, at least it saves listeners the trouble of putting on pants and braving Downtown Austin traffic to attend a show from a new artist. The packaging itself is ballsy enough to warrant attention.

So how does the live version of Corales Prematuros – “early songs” – actually fare? Admittedly, I was expecting something a little less put-together. You’ve got to have the audacity and confidence of U2 to pull off your first live album of a fairly under-the-radar debut EP. That and some amazing skill, and musically, the skill is there. The sound is warm, fills the space like an overripe garden full of a variety of seasonal flora.

The opening track is a self-titled jam, PES and his backing band introducing themselves with a four-count warning. The drum (Hunter Thompson) and guitar (Luis Fiallos) swell in what sounds like a waterfall, so easy yet rushes with all the force of a natural water feature. It cascades into track “Suelta Todo,” a ripping piece of Seventies-inspired rock that threw me back to listening to Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Ides of March with my father. Though the unbridled funk of his predecessors isn’t nearly as present, it’s the full-throttle wall of sound PES manages to showcase that intrigues.

A fresh artist untainted by the wear and tear of all-consuming trends and post-social media ennui

The soothing coo of midtempo “El Ayer” douses the flame a bit. It brings the EP back down from the rafters, surprising intimacy between strangers. The fullness of sound never diminishes, however. The bass (Michael Barnes) is steady as concrete, allowing a path for the listener on this musical adventure. The guitars are refreshing, clear and unmuddied by the dominance of the drums. The keys (August King) put a sparkling bit of loveliness in the piece and give the sound its easy-listening slant without numbing any of the edge.

The album ends a bit anticlimactically. “Qué Hice Mal” is an interesting question to close with. I’d say it’s as gutsy as everything that preceded it; however, I’m not sure this was actually intentional. What PES did wrong was either end the album too early or a track too late. It’s a muddled middle ground that, while it doesn’t take anything away from the quality, makes for a skippable track. “Qué Hice Mal” ends the album sleepily – opening slowly as if building up to something, only to stay nestled in the midtempo drowsiness of “El Ayer.” Perhaps this is the proverbial cliffhanger. We’ve gotten a taste, have sampled the various flavors, tempos, and temperatures of the artist. Now we’re left wanting something ... more.

And perhaps that’s the point, though it could’ve made a more declarative statement.

PES is fascinating. The sound is familiar in many ways: Air Supply’s all-encompassing aural richness (à la their eponymous debut), with shades of the live band aesthetics of Pablo Cruise. Yet it sits comfortably in a contemporary pocket filled by Dallas outfit Luna Luna, Melody’s Echo Chamber, and South Korean rock band SeSoNeon. A sound that’s at once reminiscent yet steeped in the now. (Ah, the ever-slithering ouroboros of time. “The more things change” ... as they say.) PES is a fresh artist, untainted by the wear and tear of post-social media ennui. A good first start that leaves a listener wanting more. Which, in the end, is always a good thing.

PES

Corales Prematuros (En Vivo)

Self-Released