Alternative/Indie: La Casa Azul, El Guincho, Los Punsetes, Sr. Chinarro

Spain has a very vibrant indie rock scene, many artists quickly gain an underground audience by performing a lot and networking through MySpace. There's much talent to be discovered: check out only four examples below!


La Casa Azul is one of the more mainstream indie bands. Specialized in catchy discopop, the Barceloneans even tried their luck in the pan-European camp fest Eurovision. "La Revolución Sexual" can only be enjoyed with attributes like an afro wig, a white costume, huge sunglasses, and a smile from ear to ear. The delicate rock touch in the chorus, and the beautiful piano intermezzo, separates them from other, more clichéd feelgood disco acts (Miranda) . As you all know by now, the Spanish public decided La Casa Azul doesn't match up to übercamp like Ireland's Dustin The Turkey, so they decided to send the already infamous Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. For which I'm kinda glad - La Casa Azul deserves an audience that truly appreciates their sexy grooves, not a YouTube hype based on superficial traits.

La Casa Azul - La Revolución Sexual mp3 myspace buy@iTunes buy@Amazon


Talking of hypes, Barcelona indie producer El Guincho recently racked up a bunch of new fans in the US thanks to a raving Pitchfork review of his 2007 debut Alegranza!. Pablo Díaz-Reixa (his real name) makes rhytmical collages of repetitive tropical sounds, drowned in unintelligible chants and harmonies. Not really an easy accessible concept, right? This really is a hate-it-or-love-it type of music, and though I love the afrobeat-meets-sambadrum percussion, I'm having a real hard time with the repetitive character. But surely you'll have to decide for yourself! Listen to "Palmitos Park" below, it's the opening track of Alegranza!, and one of the more easily digestible songs.

El Guincho - Palmitos Park mp3 myspace buy@Amazon


Los Punsetes are from Madrid, and combine powerful feminine vocals with psychidelic guitars. The two-minute explosion "Fondo de Armario" first builds up the tension with tight drums borrowed from Bloc Party, and then derails completely in a wall of distortion while Adriana sings (or rather, yells) about the perversity of today's spoiled teens. This young band could benefit from some polishing up production-wise, but their raw and energetic self-titled debut LP promises a lot for the future - some are already comparing them to Spain's most legendary indie act, Los Planetas. Oh yeah, the entire album is freely downloadable on the Los Punsetes website!

Los Punsetes - Fondo de Armario mp3 myspace download album


Sevillan artist Sr. Chinarro (born Antonio Luque) is another long-time indie darling. His latest album Ronroneando was released with rave reviews in his home country. Sr Chinarro's brand of indie pop is more comparable with the American or British indie scene: delicate guitar arpeggio's with the occasional greasy riff, and a serene voice telling tales of desolation. "Timidos" could even be on the radio, if the Spanish ondas radiales weren't such a corrupt business. If you're into country-infused poprock, be sure to check out the rest of the album too.

Sr. Chinarro - Timidos mp3 myspace buy@Amazon