Sauna Bytes "Sauna Bytes"

Sauna Bytes "Sauna Bytes" (p)2020

From the very first sounds this album welcomes a listener with the elevated vocals and jangling guitars reminiscent of either the pre-Britpop (or even pre-C86) Foggy Albion scene or some 80’s post-punk heroes from Down Under (The Church’s “Heyday” is arguably the most evident influence). Talking about more contemporary – as well as geographically closer – reference points I would like to mention the Madrid-based quartet Pasavento or Sauna Bytes’ Comunidad Valenciana compatriots Peepshow – both bands are visibly following the same path of pro-Britain pop/rock heavily infused with taste, elegance, tone-setting synths and tight ‘exactly as much as required’ drum section. As those bands remain relatively unnoticed by wider audience despite the undeniably high quality of their output I can’t escape the feeling that the lower profile bands (calling them ‘second tier of Spanish indie’ would be offensive, I guess) are now making way more interesting music than the most of their top tier (when you add ‘top’ to ‘tier’ it ceases to sound offensive, though) ‘always-in-the-public-eye’ peers do.

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b1n0 "b1n0"

b1n0 “b1n0” (p)2020 Foehn Records

Look, a lot of the critically acclaimed records of today sound like they were created the following way: all tracks were burned onto a CD, than CD was placed into a grinding machine, and finally the record was glued together from the billion silvery plastic pieces removed out of the grinding machine. If you look regularly into the Pitchfork Media’s ‘best new music’ section you know what I mean - Arca, FKA Twigs, Rosalia’s “El Mal Querer”, etc. While b1n0’s eponymous debut album apparently belongs to the same ‘cross-everything avant-pop’ subgenre of experimental music the aforementioned musicians belong to, it sounds more, dunno… human? Like, “Well, we would like the robots having got their tunes to make love to, but we still shouldn’t ignore eukaryotes”. Thus, on the Arcameter b1n0 are way closer to Moses Sumney than to Jlin.

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Gonzalo Fuster "Almacenero Marx"

Gonzalo Fuster "Almacenero Marx" (p)2020 Discos Belamarh

Have you ever noticed that the most simple sounding music is often the hardest to describe? This is the case of “Almacenero Marx”. It sounds like it’s 60% silence or indistinct homemade ambient noises but how would you describe the other 40%? Free-form minimal no-wave neo-classical musique concrete acid jazz with sporadic laughter, interfamilial dialogues or a toddler's mutter used as vocals? Ok, let's put it like that's the real thing. Do you get the idea? Chances are you don't. It needs to listen to the record to get the idea of it. One-take spontaneity mixed with bedroom pop techniques mixed with avant-garde mind of the former El Ser Humano mastermind.

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Venezia Rojo Shocking "Playful EP"

Venezia Rojo Shocking "Playful EP" (p)2020 

It's good cuz the songs are damn good.

It's bad cuz it's only three song long.

For the fans of James, Idlewild, Galaxie 500. Mostly James.

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Sr. Chinarro "El Bando Bueno"

Sr. Chinarro "El Bando Bueno" (p)2020 Mushroom Pillow

I do believe "El Bando Bueno" might easily be considered the career's best for Sr. Chinarro as it's got everything for that. It's ideal, undoubtedly. Regarding his earlier legacy (let’s say, every album up to “Enhorabuena A Los Cuatro”), I mostly like all these albums but there always are the songs that I don’t like. This is the album where I like every particular song. I insist on there is no weak song on "El Bando Bueno". But for me personally, I still love his saddest, bleakest, most brooding releases (namely "Perspectiva Caballera" and "El Progreso") more than this one because this one sounds a bit too comfortable. It sounds like the man is... happy?

SPTF

Noné Gómez "La Edad De Otro Mundo"

Nonė Gómez “La Edad De Otro Mundo” (p)2019 Clifford Records

I’ve tried to dissect this short album multiple times but every time I tried the only conclusion I got was that short forms didn't fit the genre perfectly. 

These are the four songs with simple and distinct melodies that can be allocated to power pop category. A melody a song. No drastic rhythm changes. No complicated arrangements. No considerable shifts in dynamics. Neither polished nor lo-fi. Maybe an Echo And The Bunnymen influence. And I can’t escape the feeling it all might work much better if the supply wasn’t so scarce.

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Ballena "Odisea Ballena"

 Ballena "Odisea Ballena" (p)2020 Subterfuge

Their previous longplay sounded like the recording studio was haunted by Santiago Motorizado during the process. I don't speak about direct borrowings - it's rather like Ballena and The Band From The Other Side Of The Pond aka El Mato A Un Policia Motorizado shared the same atmosphere or the common mood. "Odisea Ballena", while following nearly the same path, is way more diverse than "Navarone". The band sounds like trying to push every boundary in every direction so some songs get wider, bigger, louder while the other ones get more poppy and lightweight. Looks like the law of the expansion of the universe in miniature and it's as cool as it gets because it's always cool when the music itself gets more sophisticated without making you into studying rocket science. 

SPTF