When Vincent Randazzo adopted the musical moniker Leche Malo he was recording in a friend’s basement in Amherst, Massachusetts. A small, red LED light was flashing to signal the microphone was clipping. He had just realized he had no connection to the music at all and found himself yelling nonsense over the track. Changing then wasn’t a choice but an instinct for survival.
Over the past five years of his career Randazzo had released six albums and toured the US regionally seven times. Somewhere within that scope he’d found himself just going through the motions; following through with plans he no longer believed in.
The transformation to Leche Malo represented a conscious re-approach to music and living. Later that cross country trip he took up talk therapy in Chicago, Illinois. Those sessions were the impetus for his new voice: the project would become a humorous and at times dark exploration of human sadness, expression, and sexuality.
From the independent stage at the West End Celebration this year Leche Malo relayed his mission statement over the PA system:
“I wouldn’t have written any of these songs if it weren’t for therapy. It’s totally okay to be sad but let’s do something productive with it! Dig deeper, don’t let anybody tell you you have to avoid that. Don’t get over it, get into it."
Quotes:
“Think Annie Clark when she transforms into chamber rocker diva St. Vincent or when Joshua Tillman picks up a guitar, gets weird and becomes Father John Misty. So it goes for Vincent Randazzo… in his new solo project he embodies the persona of the bear-all wanderer Leche Malo… with raspier and grittier vocals, honest and almost painfully relatable lyrics, plus a pop-sensical execution.”
- Monterey County Weekly
“Ahh yes, Leche Malo. A handsome bunch. You'll find yourself blindsided in a most refreshing way. Song structures that go from verse to chorus to...Pluto, replete with unexpected sonic zigs and zags...expert musicianship...inventive genre-hopping. It's fun! And tying it all together? Why, it'd be the great unifier of humanity, of course — unrelenting sexual neurosis. Smashing!”
- Mike Scutari
Random Facts:
Leche Malo hearkens to Malo’s uncle who first wore the moniker as part of the underground LA punk scene and further references the South American turn of phrase ‘Mala Leche’ meaning one who has ‘inherent bad luck’.
In reaction to debut single Smoke Cigarettes indie music blog American Pancake has dubbed Malo’s genre 'sadcore'.