Pumuky "No Sueltes Lo Efímero"(p)2025 Keroxen

"Our songs are mostly about love, but almost none of them are about romantic love," the closing statement of Pumuky’s latest interview to La Provincia explains a lot about Jaír Ramírez’s creative approach.

Love as loss, love as obsession, love as a heavy burden… That’s where he used to tread.

The average listener's apathy is killing me. "Castillo Interior", the double EP released five years ago, should have attracted to Pumuky at least some portions of Jamie Stewart’s (Xiu Xiu) and Jim Tamborello’s (Dntel) fanbases. But it didn’t. I hope now the things are gonna change.

Pumuky has once again become a band—Mariano (bass) and Albert (drums) have joined the lineup. How long were Jaír and Noé on their own—seven years? Eight? They needed to spend that time adjusting to changed circumstances: starting families, the birth of daughters... The things like that. The tracks for "Castillo Interior" were recorded by Jaír at night on a laptop while Nayra and Gara were asleep. The new album was recorded at La Mina, Raúl Pérez’s Granada-based recording studio responsible for my last year's Top3 albums.  

There’s a tangible hope that "No Sueltes Lo Efímero" will hit the mark. All three pilot singles received a unanimous reaction, often dubbed "universal acclaim". Journalists, fans, and casual listeners alike are thrilled. "Lo Recuerdo Todo" (the second single) feels like the heaviest song in the band’s back catalogue. Jaír once shared the story of "La Singularidad"—the third single—on Twitter: the song traces back to "Erizar La Alma" from Pumuky’s 2003 debut demo. 259 months in the making.  

Every Pumuky album is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle: no two are alike, yet each undeniably belongs to the same picture. The same multiverse. "No Sueltes Lo Efímero" seamlessly connects with "Plus Ultra" (2011) and "Justicia Poética" (2015): shoegaze and slowcore, a bradycardic rhythm, and a velour-lined wall of sound. Ethereal electronics and guitars—so loud and dense, yet creating a sense of fragility, a half-reality of what’s happening.

Plus Jaír’s voice—a voice "from the other side," a voice "from another planet." Utterly detached from both earth and sky.  

The album has no weak spots. They could have randomly picked three other songs as singles and still gotten the same universal acclaim. "Terriblemente Bello", "Estudio Sobre Mi Rabia" and "Hablando Con Los Animales" - this selection could have been as strong as any other.

What haven’t I mentioned yet? Myself. For me, this is deeply personal story. My favorite and historically significant band (alongside Yo, Estratosférico). My friends. I’ve hugged their wives, I’ve given their daughters the toy rabbits. I’m as biased as it gets, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be that biased when my favorite band's new album comes out.

That’s how it goes.

GAF Y La Estrella De La Muerte "Pyramids" (p)2023 Foehn/ Keroxen/ Discrepant

They did it again. "The Canarian combo just released an album that bears little resemblance to their previous releases" - the phrase that can be attributed to every Gaf's album. The band never showed any trace of desire to be placed into a certain genre or category or scene but it's apparent that with each subsequent release they try to "try harder" on that way. Every album is a step - or a jump - aside. 

First, "Pyramids" is mostly electronic. At least, its first half.

Second, it's 100% instrumental. Carolina doesn't sing, Mladen doesn't sing. No one says a word.

"Pyramids" was recorded in El Tanque (the former petrol tank 50 m in diameter and 18 m in height converted into art space) during 3 day long improvisational sessions. 

It's two LP album but it contains only 7 tracks. Three are two synth-laden tracks ("Pyramids 1", "Pyramids 4"), a bass-driven kraut piece ("Pyramids 2"), an atonal jazz piece with leading trumpet ("Pyramids 3"), two meaty post-rocky tracks ("Reptylian", "Speed Of Darkness") and a space rock elegy ("Wormhole 74"). Structurally they are sequenced to make the whole picture evolve constantly like a spoonful of mercury splashed onto the surface. Album starts from tiny synth musings, then it grows up to guitar-fueled storm and finally calms down descending slowly to serenity and peace. That's the main course but there are multiple pitch roll and yaw corrections on the way.

Summed up, it's not so mindwrenching as "Garden Island" (the album by GAF's another avatar GAF And The Love Supreme Arkestra recorded in the similar circumstances) but it's still an adventurous experience. The listener's discretion is advised.

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The Best Of 2020. Compilations (and a split album)

I’m still devoted to the ‘solo performer or a band’ standard regarding the selection for the main Top50 list but the truth is, if I wasn’t that stubborn the list would be topped by a compilation. One of these compilations below. 

Conjunto Podenco/ Lullavy "Garabato" (p)Repetidor 

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Various Artists "Radar Keroxen Vol.1" (p)Keroxen 

That said best release of the year. Four bands (Gaf Y La Estrella De La Muerte, Conjunto Podenco, Pumuky, Saletile), two tracks per band. The perfect combination of four different approaches united by the commonly shared vision that only Canarians (and the Gaf bandleader/ Keroxen co-head Mladen Kurajica) can share. Gaf's "Watashi Wa Tako" is the best track I have listened to this year.

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Various Artists "We Are Never Alone. Songs of Vic Chesnutt" (p)No Aloha 

The indie label No Aloha Records has started its activity with this quite unexpected tribute to late American singer-songwriter - and this is that rare tribute where every cover version reflects simultaneously the persons of both author of the song and the musician who reimagines it.

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Various Artists "Yo La Tengo C(L)overs" (p)edita la servidumbre 

The huge 52 track tribute to one of the most critically acclaimed indie bands of the world. No surprise at all that this attempt was taken by the [world's best] record store Ultra-Local Records well-known for its friendship ties with Yo La Tengo. There is a suggestion that this comp says more about Spanish underground than of the Hoboken three-piece.

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Various Artists "De Zaragoza a Tokio: Viajando con Capitán Sunrise" (p)Confesiones Tirado en la Pista de Baile 

A lovely compilation of cover versions that celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Santi Diego-led indie pop vehicle. The bands of Puzzles Y Dragones and Detergente Liquido caliber were gathered by the blog Confesiones Tirado en la Pista de Baile to pay homage to one of the Spanish indie pop scene's most renowned bands.

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Pumuky "Castillo Interior" EP

Pumuky "Castillo Interior" (p)2020 Keroxen

It's never easy in the world of Pumuky. While having been stripped down to the core duo of brothers Jair and Noe Ramirez looked like streamlining of the internal communication, the creative process only got more complicated with both brothers having their own families now - in addition to them residing on the different islands. The necessity of finding the balance between making art and household duties significantly slowed the band's activities down. Now the new Pumuky releases are as frequent as your 29th of February birthday parties. 

Anyway, whatever they lose in output they compensate it in quality of songwriting. Recorded and mixed completely in Jair's own apartment the new EP still delivers every emotion Pumuky have always been honored for throughout their career. I still haven't listened to it via my home hi-fi system so as of now I can't check it out is there anything on the record that depicts 'bedroom origin' of it. But I don't feel like I have to. Everything I need to know about "Castillo Interior" has nothing to do with hi-end nuancing. So it might need a cheaper headset only to figure out what this record is. A piece of music as an antithesis to socializing. A soundrack of falling into the rabbit hole of your own mind. A sonic equivalent to hypnagogia. 

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