A Revolution in Song

By Lizz Kannenberg in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 11, 2007 4:46PM

When last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival rolled around, we were psyched to see most of the headliners, but Os Mutantes (“The Mutants”) threw us for a loop. While we’d long been interested in Cuban jazz, Brazilian Tropicalia was a new frontier for our musical palate. We weren’t disappointed in the reunion of the revolutionary band that had influenced such diverse Chicagoist favs as David Byrne and Kurt Cobain. It’s really no surprise that Tropicalia’s influence persists today – it’s both a musical movement and a reaction to the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil in the 1970’s, when siblings Sergio and Arnaldo Bapista and Rita Lee formed Os Mutantes. Tonight’s performance at the Metro is one of only four in the U.S. this summer, so get off yer bums and get a bit of culture with your rock.

Os Mutantes play Metro tonight with DJ Joe Bryl at 9 p.m. and tickets are $31.