Doing cumbia covers of popular tunes is almost as old as cumbia’s popularity itself. There more than a handfull of cumbia artists who pretty much built their whole career around cumbia covers (from Los Clasiqueros to Kumbia Queers and Los Master Plus). Nothing new there. In Peruvian psychedelic cumbia (a.k.a. chicha), however, this was never such a common trend.
Well, Brooklyn’s chicha revivalists Chicha Libre are here to change that. After doing a great cumbia adaptation of Wagner‘s “Ride of the Valkyries” in their latest album, Canibalismo, the band led by French expat Olivier Conan is ready to release a four-track EP consisting of all chichadelic covers.
Cuatro Tigres is the title of this new release by Chicha Libre, and it will be available in limited edition 12” vinyl on Record Store Day (April 20th). It includes chicha versions of The Clash‘s “Guns of Brixton,” Arthur Lee & Love‘s “Alone Again Or” a cover of chicha pioneers Los Shapis and the one available here as free download: “The Simpsons Theme” originally composed by Danny Elfman.
Now that The Simpsons are breaking all the previously strict rules for their couch gags (the latest one was “Do The Homer Shake”) it’d not be too hard to imagine them taking a psychedelic detour into the Peruvian Amazone jungle using Chicha Libre’s cover as score for one of their opening shorts. If Matt Groening’s team doesn’t do it, I bet you some amateur animator will mash this MP3 up with some youtube video soon enough.