spain

High-energy veterans Senor No from Basque Country (don't call it Spain) are embarking on their first Australian tour this month but their Anipoddean connection already runs deep.

Senor No was born in Donostia/San Sebastian, Basque Country in 1993, after the dissolution of the seminal Spanish group La Perrera. The band released their first LP with No Tomorrow Records in 1994 and toured Spain and surrounding areas relentlessly while recording five more albums and more than a dozen singles.

Senor No was the very first release for the seminal Spanish label Bang! Records which is a label responsible of releasing some of Australian best bands overseas.

He’s been out of sight but not out of mind since quitting Australia for love and moving to Spain, but Johnny Casino has been busy. On March 1 he notched up a birthday and launched a new album, “Time and Time Again” on LP and CD.

The album was recorded in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, Gandia and Els Poblets, Spain and was mixed in Spain and London, England, starting its life more than four years ago.

Instead of condensing the recording sessions into days or weeks at a time, Johnny was more content to simply only record when the moment or the feel of each song was right. That’s why the record was recorded in five different cities in three different countries.

The star-studded crew playing on the album includes Carrie Phillis (Boobytraps), Adam Pringle, Stew Cunningham (Leadfinger), Jodi Phillis (The Clouds) and Warren Hall (The Drones, Datura4, The Volcanics) as well as Spaniards Julain Marco, Isidro Rubio and Actor Ochoa.

The blurb says: “ ‘Time and time again’ is equal parts dangerous rock´n´roll, homespun rich melodies and sweeping cinematic views and was recorded with a roving cast of Johnny's musical brothers and sisters.In Johnny's words,” No reason to doubt it, but listen for yourself (and buy) at Bandcamp.

The newest band for former Radio Birdman guitarist Chris Masuak, Los Revelators, were born in a garage behind the ancient Roman walls of Lugo in Galicia and raised on a diet of scratchy seven-inch singles. 

With members from three continents, Los Revlators are a band with international bloodlines and bound by a shared love for hard-edged ‘60s and ‘70s rock and roll. They play it hard and fast, churning out mostly original songs steeped in psychedelia,   surf, garage rock and punk and laced with intricate guitar and the unmistakable tones of a Hammond organ.

The debut EP "Revelation" is available here.

"News From Nowhere" - Atomic Zeros (Ghost Highway Recordings)

If you don't like rock'n'roll, you'll hate the Atomic Zeros. They are all your worst irritants combined: garage, MC5, punk, surf, garage and Radio Birdman overtones.. But also: much of the phrasing reminds me more of Chris Bailey back in the day (see "Electric Chair"). Curious how insistent the Zeros are; yet so modern they seem compared to the rather lame “modern” music.

They've broadened and fleshed out their sound, but one major element remains: they sound bloody enormous. Play loud at people who like Justin Bieber and crap that's everywhere that you have to try so hard to like, and that red-haired git as well. No, not John Lydon, though he probably wouldn't like it either.

What with them scheduled to support Chris Masuak (“The Australian Rock Festival - The Legacy of Radio Birdman In Spain”) for a show in Spain being filmed for a documentary, I suppose it would be polite to review the Sonic Race’s CD.

The Sonic Race are from Spain and play high-energy, exuberant rock that keeps rocking. They don’t stop for no-one and you need this album in your house - and on your car stereo - right now. Oh yes, magic phrase:”Twin guitar assault”.

I got mine through their Australian representative Axelle Dee on Facebook. She may have a few left and they also have a Bandcamp. 

 Superioridad Moral – Dr Explosion (Slovenly)

Long story short: Spanish garage rock band that’s been on hiatus for 11 years resurfaces on an American label with a German office that sells records to the USA, Mexico and Japan as well as the EU. Sounds about right in today’s digital world, but it’s also proof that rock and roll still spans multiple cultural borders.  

As a confirmed Monolingual, I know when I’m beaten. “Superioridad Moral” (“Moral Superiority”) is sung entirely in Spanish. I have no clue what Dr Explosion is singing about. But the songs sound strong with touches of psych rock and pop running prominently throughout.

These boys come outta the blocks right at your face and do their best to tear it off. So you’re dancing like a middle-aged dickhead in the living room (or I am, anyway), loving the sharp, smart changes, the handclaps, the groove, the bounce and bluster.

Given the band and the song this website is named for (it's not Pinky and Perky, nor New Order, nor The Smiths. Give up..?) it’s almost a no-brainer that you’d probably enjoy “The Sonic Race” EP.

In fact, I’d say this: if you’d never heard Birdman, MC5, Stooges, Dictators or the Dolls … or anyone like them, and you heard The Sonic Race… you would go out and buy an instrument and learn how to play it, and drag people in until you could all go out and play like demons and lay waste the countryside.

The label doesn't lie. "Todo Roto" ("All Broken") is the third long player for Wau y Los Arrrghs and the description of "1966 punk style from an Iberian garage" - writ in capital letters, just in case you don't get the message - is accurate. If you like your fuzz raw and unbridled, look no further.