Sonorama Ribera 2019. 15 'Small Font Size' Bands

I have to admit that I’m not familiar with the most part of the ‘minuscule font size’ bands from the Sonorama 2019 line up. So I’ve tried to listen to them in brief to frame the opinions. Anyway, it didn’t make me to come to any certain conclusion apart from to act by circumstances on location cos I liked those like El Verbo Odiado, Meridian, The Rebels, St Woods or Division Minuscula – but hardly to the point there I could build some plans upon them and, moreover, surely recommend them to other people. Now I’d like to declare the following: I will certainly try to see the aforementioned bands cos chances are they are cool. 

Anyway, the main ‘small font sized bands’ list is as follows (in alphabetical order).

Agoraphobia – they’re young’ they’re loud, they’re upbeat. They’re the Galician chicks that take the L7’s legacy and bring it into the 21st century better than Donita Sparks & Co do themselves.

Alexanderplatz – Spain is brimming with the high quality bands that crossbreed indie pop with indietronica. This one is the project of the former Klaus & Kinski Alejandro Martinez Moya. 

Apartamentos Acapulco – the potential successors of Los Planetas not only by location but also by contents.

Ballena – I think their album “Navarone” was nice. So I eager to see how it may sound live.

Basanta – the Spanish take on ‘occvlt rock’. A nice try, as far as I can see.

Boogarins – for me, this Brazilian band is the most anticipated one (along with Javiera Mena) from ‘the other side of the pond’.

The Crab Apples – the great female band from Barcelona. I narrowly missed them last year in Primavera Sound as I observed Xavier Calvet’s performance inside the MACBA building right when they played exactly outside.

Crudo Pimento – a band impossible to categorize. They exist in the universe of their own and create the music of their own. 

Echo – a couple of years ago we caught them playing in acoustic format at the MeetinArts tent – and it was kinda gutwrenching cos the voice of Carmen Alvaredo was so powerful. It’s interesting what they sound like now.

Igloo – the friends, nuff said. 

Invisible Harvey – one of the most unexpected artists of this edition of Sonorama. The Catalan singer/songwriter (a resident of El Genio Equivocado) represents the kind of artists that are rare birds in the large events.

Mostaza Galvez – genre-wise I dunno really what they are playing but they are definitely not bland. In fact, they are the exact opposite to ‘bland’.

Nina Coyote eta Chico Tornado – the personified hurricane, that's what they are. The psychedelic/ garage/ sludge duo from Basque Country. 

Presumido – arguably one of the hottest synth pop bands of the moment. 

Rayo – one more female band playin’ loud music in this list. Seems to be great.

Las Ligas Menores "Fuego Artificial"

Las Ligas Menores "Fuego Artificial" (p)2018 Discos Laptra/Sonido Muchacho

The mostly (namely 4/5) female band from 'the other side of the pond' (namely Buenos Aires, ARG) created the ideal C86 album without - as far as I can see - ever intending it. The songs cover the vast spectre of influences from The Cure's "Three Imaginary Boys" to the Courtney Barnett's finest "Sometimes I Sit And Drink, And Sometimes I Just Sit" through all these possible Brit-related shoe-, post- and nu-gazes, echoes, bunnymen and teenage funclubs. The main thing is that you're not gonna split these songs onto the components so solid they are. The album as a whole sounds natural, and it - as far as I can see - is natural (with particular emphasis on 'is'). 

BNDCMP
FCBK

P.S. It's funny how the best things don't generate much words (this is called "left me speechless").

Selvatica "Macumba"

Selvatica "Macumba" (p)2019 Discos De Kirlian

If the album only managed to sustain the qualities of the first three tracks this would be the album of the year. I almost started my review with: "And while the country is desperately waiting for the debut Carolina Durante slab, the Album of the Year is already here". These tracks - namely "Quien Es La Sombra", "Solo Llueve En Mi Casa" and especially "Reino De Papel" - are the fast, sonorous, effervescent, ultra-melodic songs. But as the album flows by further it deviates from its initial course set by these amazing pieces and intrudes the air space of Her Majesty the Diversity with inclusion of saxo and tropical rhythms. There's nothing wrong with it and I really like saxo within the indie rock song context. So, all the subsequent tracks are good in their own right but as a result of the stylistic digressions the overall impression gets somehow blurred.

BNDCMP

FCBK

Peepshow "Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica"

Peepshow "Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica" (p)2018 Polar Records

Peepshow is the rock formation from Valencia that’s got family ties to (i.o. shares the drummer German Garcia with) another local combo En Septiembre that appeared to be one of my last year’ discoveries.

I started to get familiar with the band from the first video filmed for this album: “Nuevo Imperio”. The song sounded like it could fit to the last Dorian’s album so initially I thought Peepshow was one of these electro rock bands. Recently it revealed that sound-wise this danceable song had little in common with the rest of the album. Musically – apart from the aforementioned “Nuevo Imperio” – two main influences are easily distinguishable (or at least they seem distinguishable for me personally): the Nacho Vegas’ narratives and Viva Suecia’s guitar-fueled sonic grandeur. The band’s modus operandi is when a song starts with the subtle arrangements over the slow-paced drum beat, gains up and then blossoms into the epic-like space rock crescendo midway. 

The lyrics are bittersweet, sarcastic and rather biting regardless of the matter the frontman Uve Martinez is singing about: the social issues (“1999”, “Nuevo Imperio”), or the indie music mythos (“Gente Normal”), or the human intercourse (“Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica”).

The production qualities are additionally complementing already top-notch album, the band sounds really big. In the world better than ours they could make a considerable splash with it. 

FCBK

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Oso Leone "Gallery Love"

Oso Leone "Gallery Love" (p)2019 Apollo Records

It’s been awhile since the Oso Leone’s previous effort – the magnificent “Mokragora” - was brought to light so I have never expected the Mallorcan band picking up right where they left off almost 6 years ago. But taking in mind the “Mokragora” undeniable perfection it’s impossible not to compare the new album with the previous one, and it goes like that. Instead of resuming the unhurried walks through the dewy forest undergrowth you are about to enter the sanitized vapourized and kinda sterile environment of the airport hi-class lounge. Its air tastes rich, it sounds vulnerable and trembling all around, and apparently its space is full of beautiful and intellectually gifted creatures but it’s nothing about a couple of cold waterdrops accidentally dripping at your cheek from a lacy spider’s web you shake while moving forward through the trees – unless it’s a drop of champagne on your tuxedo. 

The music is inventively constructed and perfectly crafted to include a lot of tiny details and hardly audible undertones. Focusing on the main melodic progressions you may let all these sonic subtleties that set “Gallery Love” aside from your average Buddha Bar comps go out unnoticed. So you still need to listen carefully to fully enjoy the record. Anyway, despite its own advantages, I can’t avoid admitting “Gallery Love” apparently lacks the predecessor’s true original feel.

FCBK

BNDCMP

Elodie "Biologico"

Elodie "Biologico" (p)2019 label tbd

You can’t call this indie rock combo prolific but it’s well worth waiting for “Biologico” all these 5+ years that passed on since Elodie’s previous effort “Tu Reloj” was brought to light.

Such gap couldn’t go by without causing some changes. Above all it translated into the considerable stylistic shift from electro rock that incorporated some guitar-fueled concomitants to purely guitar-driven rock with the touches of synths. The next modification is structural. Formerly one man project by Argentina-born Tenerife-settled Marcos Estrella, during the recording sessions of “Bilologico” it was converted into the duo with involvement of Marcos’ recording/production assistant and longtime friend Gustavo Molina into the creative process. His impact - along with providing these songs with the live drumming - is the most evident in the tracks “Nacimiento” and “Muerte” where the synths operated by Gustavo are the anchors for the melody. The latter is the most danceable track of the album. I can imagine it sounding over the sweaty people rockin’ out at the alternative dance parties. The rest of tracks is led by Marcos' guitar (the introductive part of "Reincarnacion" is so fucking cool) and his brave singing.

Thematically, “Biologico” revisits the Vedic concept of Samsara cycle as all the songs are following its pattern: “Birth” – “Growth” – “Reproduction” – “Death” – “Reincarnation” – “Samsara”. As far as I could get through the lyrics, this idea is applied to human relationships but I’m not sure as my aural Spanish skills are still not that great.

For me as a 90’s indie rock junkie the album recalls some lower profile (in the best sense of the term) bands like Small 23 along with their more well-known contemporaries such as Velocity Girl. The traces of post-punk and power pop are easily recognisable as well. In addition, "Crecimiento" (my favourite track on the album) reminds me of Mi Pequena Radio's first longplay "Esquiando Hacia Arriba". Though its roots are obviously planted in at least decade-long distance the album sounds crispy fresh. All the songs are catchy but there’s something more important than catchiness. It's emotion it delivers. This album's gonna bring you a whole lot of positive emotions. All these 20 minutes I've spent with the happy smile on my face, and the first thing I wanted to do right after the running time drew to a close was jumping around while shouting out something inarticulate.

FCBK

BNDCMP

Monkey Week 2018 - 10th Anniversary. 24.11.2018

The summary >>>

23.11.2018 >>>

The next morning I woke up at 9 am having three hours of sleep only. Surprisingly, I felt myself alive enough to come out immediately as I had an urge to visit the record shops of Sevilla. As I travelled without any luggage except for a backpack it could be a major problem for me if I had purchased some vinyls but it appeared that the record shops I visited were specializing on second hand records having little of the most recent releases. The only records I'd like to purchase were La Estrella De David's "Consagracion" and Basanta's "Colorama" but finally I decided to avoid the possible transportation issues.

Despite my nondirectional territorial fluctuations I was just in time at Ron Contrabando stage (Alameda de Hercules square) to catch the very beginning of the Radio3 La Batalla de las Bandas hosted by one of the most famous Radio3 anchors Angel Carmona. The time limits were the same as for yesterday's mini showcases (also MC'ed by Angel): 6 minutes for the whole round of 'come out - plug in - play a single song - walk away'. The event started with the performance of the new local heroes Derby Motoreta's Burrito Cachimba that obviously represented the [arguably] the main contemporary trend of rock music: the 70's revival. The band that exploited the completely different direction - my new friends San Jeronimo - replaced the Sevillian six-piece onstage. Then I managed to see two more bands: the Foehn Records' residents Alien Tango, and the cock-rock combo Los Jaguares De La Bahia. Then I escaped the event to come to the opposite side of the Alameda de Hercules for Yawners. This was one of my best decisions because this metropolitan girl/boy quasi-punk duo was enormously great. I can't explain what was that decisive element of their show that made me surrender and convert myself into a devoted fan. But this was such the pleasure to see this band in action.

According to the schedule, the OffMonkey session was the next event I should attend right after Yawners. This one was organized by my friends from WeAreWolves Records to showcase the bands of the roster: the dj sessions by Pumuky and I Am Dive and two full-fledged performances by Kindata and San Jeronimo. This event should be started at 2 pm inside the Hops & Dreams gastro bar but when I came to the place only three persons were there. I was quite embarassed as I tried to consult a barman but he didn't understand me. So a guy who revealed to be Berni from Kindata came to me trying to resolve the problem. We quickly got in contact, and then I introduced myself to Tero, the second half of Kindata. This band was my biggest discovery of the year so I was completely happy to see them live and to talk to them within a month from the moment I had learned of their mere existence.

Little by little the venue got full of people. I got in touch with a man named Fran who revealed to be a photographer and a friend of Jose A. Perez. We sat together and discussed our further plans and past experiences of Monkey Week 2018. Moreover, Berni introduced me to the guys of Palo Alto who were nice and welcoming as well. In the meantime the bands started playing. San Jeronimo were the first to play, and then Kindata stepped in. These bands were the pure delight - both musically and personally.

The actuation of Da Souza at the nearby Mangaroca stage drove me away from Hops & Dreams. This Mallorcan band released the new album "Futbol D'Avantguarda" (p)Famelic that appeared to be kind of indie sensation, and I liked it as many others did so it was no way to avoid visiting their performance. It was a bit spoiled by the rain. The band played inside the tent but I beheld it getting soaked with the raindrops. Anyway it was quite low price for making it possible. Good music always defeats the rain.
By the way, at the entrance of Santa Clara I met Joan and Natalia of Saim. I approached them and expressed my respect, we talked a bit and they gave me a t-shirt as a gift. Moltes gracies!  

Then I made a short run to Jagermeister. Puma Pumku already started playing there. Like Yawners before the Galician neo-psych combo demonstrated the ability to win over the unprepared observer from the very first glance. I wasn’t totally unprepared as I used to listen to their first album for quite a while – but I never caught them before and had no idea how could they sound live. They quickly made me realize that coming up there I did just fine. This band is great, don’t miss the opportunity to see them.

Uniforms are only going to be great. The nugaze starlets just released their debut ("Polara" (p)Oso Polita) and managed to gather a considerable crowd inside Fun Club. Thus I was forced to stand behind the pillar and could see a little. Anyway, their performance wasn't perfect but their potential was obvious.

The populous and stylistically omnivore rock collective Los Jaguares De La Bahia spearheaded by the one of the most renowned indie rock producers of Spain performed at Ron Contrabando. I saw Paco Loco onstage once when he performed with Australian Blonde, but as a frontman he was even more... ummm, impressive. Shamelessly unleashed, he was like an uncontrolled beast there upon the stage. Despite his anti-star appearance, I think, he made every photographer there loaded with the whole lot of ‘rock star pose and gestures’ photos.

The Donostarrian indie rockers Pet Fennec sounded good performing in the open air (I witnessed it at Sonorama) but now within the limited space of Fun Club they sounded really massive. I placed myself in front of the bass monitor and every beat and every low note made my insides tremble. As I spent most of their time limit at Los Jaguares I caught only three songs. It was not enough - but what could I do.

Regarding the all-female garage band Melenas from Pamplona I'd like to say the following: I can’t call myself a fan of garage rock, but the girls do their thing with palpable honesty. It shouldn’t be omitted despite the fact is the listener a fan of the genre or not.

I liked the second album of the Galician art punks Travesti Afgano so they were in my own schedule from that very first moment I saw the #mokeyweek10 line up. They performed at gay bar Itaca - the southernmost location of the festival. Live the band positioned themselves as stylistically and behaviorally unpredictable act that could easily interact with public whilst changing the genres three times within a song. One of the irrefutable wins of the festival that, unfortunately, was sparsely attended.

Then I headed to La Calle rock club for the Canarias Crea/ Keroxen showcase. When I passed along Teatro Alameda I witnessed a queue that splashed out from the entrance and flew around the corner.
I walked along the queue guessing who the hell might gather such the crowd. In the middle of the queue I met Fran who explained me that all these people were there for Pony Bravo. This band had created a considerable cult following during the years of activity so the audience welcomed their first performance in years with huge enthusiasm.
Nevertheless, I came further to the club. It could be nice to see Pony Bravo but the prospect of losing some amount of time in passing through this queue was up to kill the possible perks of seeing one of the scene-defining bands in action.
Saletile, the experimental rock duo from Tenerife, opened the Canary Islands night at La Calle. The schedule was cruel for them as their slot coincided with Pony Bravo’s. On the other hand, Saletile’s music is not for everybody and the focus groups of the bands were hardly coincident. For me, I enjoyed their set of long instrumental passages and digital noise drones a lot.

I’m not going to spread much words about those two bands that followed Saletile onstage. What could I say… Pumuky and GAF Y La Estrella De La Muerte, my favorite band and the best live act of the scene respectively, that’s exactly how I'd like to label them. I feel some kind of personal connections to both of the bands. I can’t judge them with due objectivity so I should pull them off the scale. For me it’s like, you know, there are Messi and Ronaldo – and there are the real people.
Unfortunately, the actuation of GAF was my final concert of the festival. The bell rang for me. I wasn’t happy to say goodbyes to all the people that accompanied me through the Monkey Week 2018 but the Ryanair’s flight schedule forced me to do so.
Then I walked outside and then lost the next 23 hours of my life in taxi cabs, aircrafts, stopovers and trains.