REAÇÃO

Pavilhão 9 is one of the bands that have best portrayed the rough stuff from within the suburbs of São Paulo. Sometimes, the bloody stories of confrontations between the police and the opressed inhabitants comes close to a thriller, but the scathing criticism and musical swing displayed on tracks like Terra de Ninguém and Retrato de São Paulo, from their previous album, Se Deus Vier, Que Venha Armado (1999), is undenyable. As Pavilhão moved on to a major label (Warner), a lot has changed. Reação, their fifth album, has been produced by rock specialist Tom Capone. Rappers Rhossi and Doze's lyrics are a bit lighter, now, but still edgy, as they give a response to those who accuse the group of being less hip hop because they traded the pick-ups for a bass-guitar-drum band. (Silvio Essinger)