Aiko El Grupo
And with further evidence to bolster my hypothesis, I give you Madrid's Aiko El Groupo - Tere (who's played with those most American sounding of Madrid indie merchants, Yawners) and Lara are on guitar and vocals, Bárbara with the aforementioned bubbly - and early Los Bonsáis inspired - synths and vocals, and Jaime, who as well as layering the drums has a slightly deeper voice - and who like their Valencian peers can be found on Elefant Records' New Adventures in Pop imprint, through whom they've recently released their bounce-alongable debut album "Va totalmente en serio…"
"It's Totally Serious…" (see what I did there?) but here is an album that has bottled the raw energy of post-punk, indie-pop, Riot Grrrl and noise-pop, sweetened with lots of pop attitude and to which the band have stirred-in some gorgeous harmonies and ear-worming melodies… It's an album that literally rattles by in a touch under 25 minutes and features ten knock-out tracks which are contagiously addictive.
Listen to "Quiero conocer (por tu actitud)" and you can hopefully understand why I've bigged-up the band for their jangling guitars and sparkling synths, they're both here in glorious abundance - throw in the metronomic backbeat, ear-worming melodies, glorious off-kilter harmonies, hummable choruses and irreverent 'fuck-you' lyrics - and it's both impossible to listen to this song without parts of your body oscillating wildly or to notice a huge smile develop across your face. To be honest, these are both symptoms you are going to have to accept… All that's left to add is; "màs, por fa…"
With "Me parece muy fuerte" the band manages to increase the tempo(!), crank up the volume to eleven(!!!) and let-rip with wailing guitars a-go-go, pneumatic percussion, Casio synth-pop breaks and venomous lyrics spat back in your face. Not for the first - or last - time revenge is a dish best served loud - all rattled-off at seemingly 100 mph (or 160 km/h) without coming-up for air…
A totally irreverent song about menstruation (the clue's in the song's title), “Arroz con ketchup”, is built around Bárbara's oscillating synths and lyrics which are delivered in a totally dead-pan style. This song could almost be described as Aiko El Grupo's unique take on the Blues - if it wasn't for that old garage-rock / punk-rock trick of a maelstrom of guitars assaulting one ear whilst Jamie's drumming absolutely pummels the other… That and the riotous noise-pop finale complete with banshee screams… Listening to this album through headphones should require a government health warning.
Thankfully, "A mí ya me iba mal de antes" give me ears a respite. Hymn-like, Bárbara's synths sounding respectably religoso as heartfelt harmonies - with just that right amount of echo - convey a tale of a downwards cycle of bad luck… well at least for the first 39 seconds… And then all shit breaks loose. Drums kick in, the buzz-saw guitars rise to the challenge, vocals shriek and rage, as self-pity turns to anger as the band channel their inner punk.
Those bubbly synths make a return on the spiky "Amigos para nunca (confía y te la lían)" and a song that is cien por cientos pure jingle-jangle indie-pop. It's also one hundred percent cierto that the friends of the song's title are similarly purely superficial. Screw 'em. Meanwhile, I'll bounce along to those free-styling guitars, a chorus that just tumbles and tumbles over and over again, and lets just revel in those so perfect of harmonies. This amigos is one ear-worming tune.
"La peste" cranks up the noise, attitude and post-punk intensity - there's a hint of The Stranglers in the keyboards and fuzzed guitars - The Plague? It's the perfect metaphor for COVID-19. Meanwhile “Si me conoces tanto (¿por qué me haces sufrir?)" sees the band again demonstrate their knack of writing catchy tunes filled with totally poptastic melodies - synths, drums and guitars - ride a sonic shockwave of indie-pop goodness, while the vocal harmonisations oscillate between on-point and discordant.
I mentioned that the album's opening track was a bit of a 'fuck-you' riposte and it's a theme that resurfaces in both "Ya te vale" and "Truchita (nunca volveré!!!!)" The former is full bore from the off - there's no slow build-up here. Synths fight to be heard above the storm of percussion and staccato guitars, as the duelling vocals don't shirk from the truth. The latter again builds on the band's signature sound as bucolic synths, pedal-to-the-metal guitars and percussion all fight for primacy, rising and falling as those gorgeous vocals ride the sonic surf. Once again, this is just a classic indie-pop tune - it's lively, danceable - especially if you suffer from the same coordination affliction as yours-truly - and totally hummable… much to the annoyance of - as I've discovered - your better half…
So by now - as you listen to this album - it's apparent that themes around relationship problems have featured prominently and so it's probably no surprise when the album's closer "Por qué no dices la verdad" returns to this thread. Actually, it's a song total with a noticeable change of pace and on an album of this intensity, could easily pass for a ballad. Frankly, it's gorgeous, the whole feel of this song - its calmness - is in total contrast to the vitriol of the biting lyrics… however - and similar to "A mí ya me iba mal de antes" - I'm waiting for the explosion… 1'59" and there's a cry of "Estoy genial" / "I'm great", as guitars and drums crank-up the noise… but this time it's so melodious and arguably in the grand scheme of things, nuanced. It's also the only song on the album that breaks the three minute barrier. It's also suggests that Aiko El Grupo have plenty more in reserve…
Meanwhile, I'm off to give the album yet another spin. ¿Listo?
"Va totalmente en serio…" (Bandcamp)
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