Xanimo: Good Times Burn Fast

Eloquent songs, sterling musicianship, and radiant star power: on Xanimo’s debut EP, Good Times Burn Fast, melodic integrity and rhythmic intensity meld into a sum much more formidable than its mere parts. At the center is the sound of a real piano, courtesy of Christian Maltez, a foil for Anthony Trujillo’s muscular guitar, driving a rhythm section that smolders with power and groove. Soaring above it all is the immense voice and undeniable presence of Liza Maltez.

The band hails from “The 909,” so named for its area code. A string of backwater towns and faceless suburbs, the dubiously crowned “Inland Empire” is a smoggy hour from Hollywood and light years removed from its glamour and glitz. Now in their early twenties, Liza, Christian and Anthony have been performing together since high school. And although Liza and Christian are siblings, they hadn’t officially performed together in previous bands. Anthony became the catalyst. “We wrote our first two songs in a matter of days,” says Liza. “We never did cover songs, it was always about our own material.”

The scene in the 909 is primarily hip-hop and punk, so from the start Xanimo’s artful, song driven accessibility set them apart. “We are the oddballs,” laughs Liza, “the band with the girl and the piano.” The Xanimo work ethic reflects a DIY, self-motivated path; from napping in the car outside an all night Kinko’s while duplicating flyers to passing out homemade demos to potential fans at other band’s gigs. “Shows, street fairs, art festivals; we are feeling the snowball effect now in getting our stuff out there. We are our own street team,” says Anthony. With the advent of Myspace, Xanimo began to reach a worldwide audience, including a substantial number of fans from France, but it has been their live shows and audience building that has allowed the band to grow organically. “But we are not in an extreme rush to get anywhere,” notes Christian. “It is about putting 150% into this project and being more efficient.”

“The parking sucks,” agrees the band about their first impression of performing in Los Angeles. Still, a Hollywood presence is essential, and shows on the fabled Sunset Strip are a part of this process. For their new EP, the band enlisted a formidable ally in producer/engineer Matthew “Matty” Green,” notable for his board work with Fall Out Boy, Mary J Blige and Pussycat Dolls, who has done a commendable job of channeling the band’s on stage electricity while leaving their integrity intact.

Christian was an academic kid whose first instrument was the violin, Anthony took orders in unenviable waiter gigs on his path to full time musician and Liza, an on-stage dervish of sound and fury, is thoughtful and shy offstage. But with the addition of a full throttle rhythm section, a queue of spotlights and a hormonally charged audience, suddenly these first generation Latino kids from the anonymous scrublands are transformed into Xanimo: an arena-ready rock band poised to blow you away.

-Dan Kimpel