Seattle wild card Brent Amaker has transcended genres with the release of new single "Murdered In The Streets," a pulsating predecessor to his upcoming album "Vaquero" out via Rodeo Corp Ltd. Brent has always wandered the space between never quite pop, never quite art, but always unmistakably Brent.
The track explodes from its speakers with the drunken energy of mariachi, an ode to the cross-cultural friendships that inspired "Vaquero." Cut over several trips to Mexico City, the album is a tribute to the vaquero spirit, propelling it, Western performance art set to rock songs and scored for authentic Mexican instrumentation. On "Murdered In The Streets," Amaker's whiskey-soaked howl floats along over burning trumpet and galloping rhythms, every note a testament to the neon cowboy aesthetic of the music video. It's irreverent, brash, and absolutely uncategorizable, something Amaker has been doing for decades now.
Contradictions have long defined Amaker's career. By day, he's a licensed insurance agent by night, he takes the stage in lookalike black cowboy uniforms, upending the city's expectations of Southern culture while winning the hearts of Seattle's critics and public. "Murdered In The Streets" contains the same friction, dramatic and intimate, brash and surgically precise, the song playfully invites the listener into the whole album experience.
If the single is any indication, "Vaquero" will be a freewheeling trip of cultural exchange, stagecraft, and musical left turns. Amaker again proves that his Rodeo is much more than a band, but a vibrant, breathing performance art spectacle, one where neon-soaked cowboys can waltz through mariachi-laden streets, yet somehow still feel at home.