Pampa

…described by revered music writer Jonathan Zwickel as “timeless, lo-fo, downtempo guitar pop that is equal pats Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound and limber Yo La Tango-is jangle with “magnetic melancholy of a particular Northwest bent.” originally PAMPA was to be called Mannahatta for “land of many hills,” lead singer-songwriter-guitarist Moon Ballie explains. “Lenni Lenape used that word to describe Manhattan before the European invasion of North America, but instead opted for PAMPA, a native Quechua word describing the wilderness, in South America" As multi-layered and intricately thoughtful as PAMPA’s output is, the deeply familiar heart and earnestness of their music is being warmly understood by local music fans seeing them live or hearing it played on KEXP. Their new eight song release La Contumacia is an elegant yet ecstatic mixture of poetic bilingual stream of consciousness, swirled with delectable organ and various ethereal, interplaying elements, augmented by crying lead guitar and dashes of horns, with the feeling swing of golden era Freak Pop filtered through a staggering jaunt through Buenos Aires unlike anything you’ve heard since the 70s became the 90s.