Nada Personal

by Eugene Chadbourne

Nada Personal relentlessly stabs the listener with its new wave beats like Jack the Ripper leading a bar band in an attempt to get a Friday night crowd off its feet. The rhythm guitar patterns -- not just jangly, but fibulating -- also bring to mind one of those wind-up toy animal drummers. "Juego de Seduccion" is the main change of gesture in the scenario, a Taxi Driver-style alto saxophone solo atop a rubato float. How expertly the Soda Stereo triumvirate serves up such a concoction should not surprise listeners who are familiar with the versatility displayed by this Argentinean combo as it ruled its country's pop and rock scenes in the '80s and early '90s. The title track, which kicks things off, was a big hit and deserves to be, the chorus a funky hook with the staying power of a Hall & Oates track, plus rhythmic zest sprinkled on by bassist Zeta Bosio and drummer Charly Alberti. These band collaborators stick their nose in here and there in the ensuing songwriting, sometimes coming up with a group composition. Most of the material is dominated by Gustavo Cerati, however, and in this case he seems a bit fixated on the Talking Heads; Argentinean nationalists, on the other hand, might say it is the other way around. This material is more easily absorbed as part of the two-in-one reissue package that also includes the later, more diverse Cancion Animal project.