The debut single from the transcontinental flavored outfit Monsieur Job, improbably titled “Chow Chow Eyyy Pow Pow”, is a stunning work of musical imagination penned by band members Bulgarian born Stan Kolev and Columbian native Toby Holguin and featuring the vocal talents of Martin Cintron. The single embraces a distinctly Latin-flavored that’s tempered by clear concessions to a modern pop sound, but Monsieur Job wins audiences over without ever pandering for their favor.
The production quality reflects the concerted push for notice that the band’s making with this debut single and highlights the groove-centered strengths of the song as well as the countless accents that further flesh out the composition. Despite the recording being essentially pieced together from the results of recording sessions in Bogota’s Basswalk Studios, Miami’s Outta Limits Studios, and Barba Studios in Belgrade, “Chow Chow Eyyy Pow Pow” never sounds like anything less than a coherent musical experience.
The percussion sets an early tone. The Latin influences powering the song immediately come through while there’s always a hard backbeat anchoring the rhythm. The drumming takes a number of subtle, nuanced turns during the song’s three and a half minutes, but it never deviates far from the track’s foundations. It has a snappy live sound and percolates high in the mix, but never exerts any sort of dominance over the song.
There are a variety of other instruments brought to bear on the song’s final outcome. Synthesizer lines, guitar treated with some post-production effects, and other surprising sounds rise out of the mix and come across with great coherence and a warm texture. The transitions are adeptly handled and there’s a deliciously live quality about the performance despite its obvious studio construction. The running time, three and a half minutes as mentioned before, is ideal for the track and no listener will ever feel like it overstays its welcome.
Language is not a barrier for Monsieur Job
Martin Cintron’s vocals are delivered in Spanish, but even non-bilingual listeners will enjoy the smoky physicality and obvious ear for melody he brings to the performance. His tenure fronting the act No Mercy has obviously developed his talents as a vocalist to the point where he can inhabit any song and evidence of the skill is abundant during “Chow Chow eyyy Pow Pow”. He’s clearly a singer who exerts appreciable effort, as well, towards tailoring his voice to serve the song rather than contrasts his voice against the backing track, in essence, attempting to bend the music to his will. It makes for a much more unified, fully realized performance than we might have otherwise enjoyed.
There’s obviously a tremendous amount of talent and imagination put into the conception, writing, and recording of this performance and the amount of obvious work never negates its energy and engaging physical quality. “Chow Chow eyyy Pow Pow “ is one of the more successful pop tunes you’ll hear in 2018 and has genuine musical substance that gives it staying power. We’ll be hearing more from Monsieur Job.
Find more Monsieur Job music on I-TUNES
-review by Jason Hillenburg
