Review: Totimoshi - Milagrosa

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Released: July 8, 2008

Totimoshi will have a hard time living down the White Stripes comparisons on Milagrosa, but at the same time leaving a description of the album at simply that is incredibly short-sighted. There's no doubt that they've found that same rich, heavy groove as Jack and Meg, but from the first lead break, they start establishing that they're not just some knock-off.

Unlike the White Stripes or Totimoshi's own stoner rock beginnings, Milagrosa overflows with mad psychedelic energy. Not just the really heavy stuff, but also a fair taste of Deadhead psych that they likely came upon filtered through the Meat Puppets. A wall of noise, under the influence of producer Page Hamilton (of Helmet), washes over their psych/hard rock soundscape in waves that alternate with the album's outright trippiness. Even slower tracks like "Last Refrain" (which features harmonies on par with Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains) and the acoustic "Forever in Bone (Los Dos)" maintain an awesome power.

Totimoshi has come quite a way from their beginnings to make an album that draws on a variety of sources to create sonic madness. Milagrosa has the dynamics of a pot ready to boil, that crazy state that's between calm and rage.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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