Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes ranked among the psychedelic era’s boldest and most inventive acts, even though their reach stayed largely confined to Brazil, above all in the band’s early years. This distinction stood out sharply in a time when countless rock outfits pushed the boundaries of mainstream music. Formed as a trio of audacious sonic explorers, the musicians deployed distortion, feedback, musique concrète, and every conceivable studio device to craft an exuberant, whimsical strain of radical Brazilian pop.

Arnaldo and Sérgio Baptista, sons of a renowned São Paulo concert pianist, launched the group. In 1964 the brothers started a teenage outfit called the Wooden Faces. After Rita Lee joined them, the three performed together as the Six Sided Rockers until graduation scattered the members. Another temporary identity, O Conjunto, gave way in 1966 to the permanent name Os Mutantes, borrowed from the science-fiction novel O Planeta dos Mutantes. A third Baptista sibling, Cláudio, contributed electronics while the band appeared weekly on the Brazilian television program O Pequeno Mundo de Ronnie Von and aligned itself with the rising Tropicalia movement. Os Mutantes supported Tropicalia figurehead Gilberto Gil at the third annual Festival of Brazilian Music in 1967 and then featured on the landmark 1968 compilation Tropicalia: Ou Panis et Circenses, which gathered key voices of the movement including Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Zé, and Nara Leão.

By the close of 1968 the group issued its self-titled debut, a boisterous and deliberately chaotic album that incorporated extended environmental recordings, tape manipulations, and fiercely distorted guitar passages that conventional engineers would have rejected, especially at such high volume. Following further sessions backing Veloso and a second album of similarly unhinged psychedelic pop, the band traveled to France and elsewhere in Europe for several music conferences. Back in Brazil they mounted an ambitious multimedia production that incorporated film, actors, dance, and direct audience involvement. Amid these projects they still completed two more LPs, 1970’s Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desligado and 1971’s Jardim Eletrico, both of which traced the group’s gradual shift from psychedelia toward blues and hard rock.

After releasing 1972’s E Seus Cometas No Pais do Baurets, Rita Lee left or was dismissed, depending on the account, and resumed the solo career she had already begun while still with Os Mutantes; her 1970 debut Build Up had been co-produced by the Baptistas. Subsequent Mutantes albums reflected growing progressive-rock influences. When Arnaldo Baptista also departed, the lineup incorporated a rotating cast that included future producer Liminha, keyboardist Túlio, and drummer Rui Motta. Aside from a 1976 live recording, 1974’s Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol marked the band’s final studio album. Sérgio later relocated to the United States and collaborated with musicians such as Phil Manzanera. After issuing his own 1974 solo album, Arnaldo formed Space Patrol in the late 1970s, spent time in a psychiatric facility, and resurfaced with the 1982 solo release Singin’ Alone. Rita Lee’s solo trajectory continued through the 1980s, yet the band declined Kurt Cobain’s 1993 invitation to reunite. Six years afterward Omplatten reissued the first three Os Mutantes albums, and David Byrne curated the retrospective Everything Is Possible for Luaka Bop.

In 2006 Os Mutantes reconvened for a London concert without Rita Lee or Liminha; newcomer Zélia Duncan took lead vocals. The following year the group joined DJ J.D. Twitch for the cultural-exchange project Trocabrahma, and in 2008 they unveiled “Mutantes Depois,” their first new song in three decades. A full-length album, Haih...Ou Amortecedor..., appeared one year later. In 2013 the reconstituted band returned with Fool Metal Jack, another collection steeped in anti-war themes and unconventional sounds.