I’ll admit it, the album title Platano Macho immediately got me curious. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from an album with a name like that, but after seeing “Guitar/Drums Beat Driven Gospel Garage Rock N Roll!!!” proudly announced alongside “I WANNA HEAR YA HOLER!!!! I WANNA SEE YA GET DOWN!!!!”, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a particularly quiet listen.
Leathers, the 2-piece band from Bristol, certainly waste no time making their intentions known. Platano Macho is an album built around drums, guitar riffs, repetition and a very clear desire to get people moving. There’s something wonderfully old-school about the approach, with Chris Mitchard and Ed Calvert sounding like they’re having a lot of fun playing around with the basic ingredients of garage rock ’n’ roll.
“Whiplash” is a fitting way to kick things off, beginning with the sound of drumsticks before launching into its groove. I almost found myself wanting to count “one, two, three, four” out loud before the track really got going. It’s fun and has plenty of energy, although the repetition becomes noticeable fairly quickly.
“Comin’ On” was more immediately my kind of thing. Once again, the drumsticks make an appearance, but the best part is how the opening feels almost like a conversation between the male vocal and the guitar. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good riff and this one definitely had me paying attention.
“Morning, Noon & Night” takes a slightly different approach to its introduction, bringing the cymbals into play instead. It’s a small detail, but it says quite a lot about how Leathers approach these songs. They understand that the opening few seconds need to grab you.
That said, Platano Macho does occasionally fall into the trap of relying too heavily on repetition. “Get On Back” was probably the biggest example for me. The intro felt a little too long, and I wondered whether the entire track was going to revolve around repeating “get on back”. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much where it goes, with the instruments often reinforcing the same rhythmic idea rather than pushing the song somewhere new.
“Eye Contact” was a much more interesting listen. I liked this one from the start, particularly the Americana flavour running through the guitar at the beginning of the track. There’s also more going on structurally with the instruments, which stops the repetition from becoming quite as obvious. The downside is that, lyrically, there isn’t an awful lot beyond the repeated “eye contact”.
“Given Up” was therefore a welcome change. Finally, we get more of a lyrical narrative, with the song dealing with that familiar feeling of giving up on another person. “I give it up” and “I’ve given up on you, baby” might be simple sentiments, but there’s something relatable about them. Sometimes you don’t need a complicated lyric to get the point across.
Then comes “Party People” and this was probably the track where the repetition worked best for me. It’s the longest song on the album, breaking the three-minute mark, and its repeated “all night party people” actually made me want to do exactly what the song suggests.
“Smokin’ Hot” brings things back to a fairly basic formula, and while there’s nothing particularly wrong with that, by this point I was starting to crave a little more variation. The closing track, “Sick”, at least gives us something different again, with the “Say” / “Whatcha say?” exchange creating a conversational quality that I enjoyed. It’s a simple idea, but it gives the song a bit of personality.
One of my biggest criticisms of Platano Macho is actually the production. The raw approach suits the garage rock aesthetic, but I found myself wishing more attention had been given to the way the vocals were recorded and processed.
There’s also the question of the lyrics. For the most part, they’re incredibly simple, often built around a repeated phrase or hook rather than developing much of a story. That’s clearly part of Leathers’ style, and when the groove is strong enough, as on “Party People”, it works. But across a full album, it can make some of the tracks blend together.
Still, there’s something likeable about Platano Macho. Leathers are giving us guitars, drums, grooves, simple hooks and plenty of “get down” energy. At its best, that simplicity is exactly what makes the album fun.
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