Mosquitos

If that mythical "tall and tan and young and lovely" girl from Ipanema fronted an indie pop band, it would sound something -- or maybe exactly -- like New York City's Mosquitos. Lead singer Juju Stulbach actually is from Brazil and spent time on the beaches of Ipanema, but the rest of the Mosquitos -- keyboardist Jon Marshall Smith and singer/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Chris Root</a> -- are from the lower east side of Manhattan. <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> claims he was an early adopter of the relaxed Brazilian way, coming to love it before he was even born. With <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> still in the womb, his mother put the belly to the speakers and played numerous <a href="spotify:artist:65c5si0ePAwkOCn4M35Ho7">Sergio Mendes</a> records for the gestating muso. Jump ahead to 2002 and <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> as an adult working on scoring a film. It was there he first saw Stulbach, who was playing a singer in the film, and both their hearts were aflutter. Stulbach headed back to Brazil after her visa expired and <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> followed. Demos were recorded, but <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> was caught with a controlled substance and fled the country. Back home he ran into Jon Marshall Smith, whose keyboard work finished the demos. Their warm and charming self-titled debut appeared on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bar%2FNone%22">Bar/None</a> label in 2003 and received positive reviews and word-of-mouth promotion. NPR fell in love with the band, and the album's key track, "Boombox," was used in a television ad for Bailey's Irish Crème. <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> declared the record a love letter to Stulbach that grew into an album that grew into a band. A year later, Sunshine Barato appeared with each member contributing more and the Mosquitos acting as a bona fide band. After extensive touring, the band returned in 2006 with Mosquitos III. A ten-year hiatus followed their third album, with <a href="spotify:artist:1sR4C2bqjgFUSv4FLUhvhj">Root</a> and Stulbach eventually relocating to Oaxaca, Mexico. In the summer of 2017, the Mosquitos resumed their recording career, delivering their fourth LP, Mexican Dust, via world music label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Six+Degrees%22">Six Degrees</a>. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi