Freedom Is Free

Freedom Is Free

Chicano Batman’s third album extends their groovy pastiche to funk and soul. Eclectic without ever feeling showy, Freedom Is Free plays like buried treasure dug out of an imaginary basement, juxtaposing glassy-eyed, “Crimson and Clover”–style ballads (“Friendship,” “Run”) with sharp, Curtis Mayfield critique (“The Taker Story”) and Brazilian-style rave-ups (“Flecha Al Soul”). It’s a psychedelic, South American sound that stretches from Memphis to Montevideo.