Boogarins

Hailing from the Brazilian city of Goiania, Tropicalia-psych act Boogarins was formed by friends Fernando Almeida and Benke Ferraz while they were still in high school in the early 2010s. The project began as an untitled, recording-only entity, taking inspiration from the sunny weirdness of '60s Tropicalia pop, and transplanting it into the decidedly more D.I.Y. context of teenagers recording songs on borrowed gear and shambling computers in the basements of their parents' homes. Before ever playing a single show, filling out the band to include a rhythm section, or even choosing a name, Ferraz and Almeida had recorded an album's worth of material that caught the ears of music hounds and tastemakers the world over, eventually landing in the hands of Other Music Recording Co., the label offshoot of long-standing New York record shop and cultural institution Other Music. Once signed to the label, the duo had to make haste in becoming a "real band" and quickly named themselves Boogarins after a type of jasmine flower; they titled their debut album As Plantas Que Curam, the English translation of which is "Plants That Heal." The band expanded to include drummer Hans Castro and bassist Raphael Vaz, and played their first shows in April of 2013. The album saw release in September of the same year.