Chicha Libre

Merkin Concert Hall; Thu 4

Photograph: Courtesy Barbes Records

Brooklyn’s Chicha Libre is among a handful of bands that devote their labors to niche repertoires from other lands—in this case, the psychedelic sounds performed among the Peruvian underclass in the 1970s. Like the band’s West Coast counterpart Dengue Fever (Cambodian pop specialists), Chicha Libre takes an increasingly broad view of its template, layering styles atop what was already a cultural grab bag. Every Monday, the band unleashes its slinky songs—spiked with American surf licks, Afro-Cuban beats and touches of French pop—at Barbès. This week, Chicha Libre escapes that club for the New York Guitar Festival, where it will soundtrack two Charlie Chaplin shorts. Accompanying Chaplin is hardly uncommon, but Chicha Libre adds a twist, abandoning period-specific fetishism while highlighting the comedian’s international celebrity. One suspects that Chaplin was not an aficionado of rock psychedelia—but a Brooklyn band playing American-influenced Peruvian workers’ music? That suits his muse well.—Jay Ruttenberg

Chicha Libre also plays Barbès Mon 8.

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