(pic: Trent Wolbe) While Los Llamarada might be one of the most exciting bands to come out of Mexico in years, they haven't won tons of fans in their hometown of Monterrey. In fact, it's reported they've been asked at one point in a frat bar to play Cranberries covers (they didn't). That's too bad, because the Yams (as some of us love to call 'em), have something special; they're harnessing the same molten energy of the Dead C, early Germs (and to some extent early Magik Markers) and laying down sheets of unpredictable, loose-n-woozy rock. Not exactly the "well-balanced" stuff of frat bar popularity. After hearing their debut LP The Exploding Now on S-S Records, WFMU was psyched to get the band to our 2008 SXSW showcase in Austin after they had to bail from Siltbreeze night (most of the band works as psychologists, and work kept them getting into Texas early). Their set knocked out all FMUers in attendance, and began with a sputtering Una Baines-era Fall keyboard line throwing odd shapes around Johnny Noise's deformed Cramps guitar figure; then the drums kicked in and vocalist Sagan stalked around the stage like a lunatic. As it all lurched forward, it spiralled into a volcanic noiserock blowout formed from ugly, malevolent and very alien sentiments. Johnny continued the set shaking his fist menacingly looking up at the sky, Sagan eventually handed the mic off to female vocalist Estrella who also stomped around like Darby Crash while everything blurred into chaos and confusion. They finally made it up to New York in November for three shows with the Hank IV, and performed live on Brian Turner's show. Video from the WFMU studio of "Atanareska" (shot by Dylan Going, edited by George Sinfield and Matt Kuglinski) and MP3 downloads below. Don't miss the killer finale either, a cover of Wire's "Pink Flag"! Los Llamarada have a new 7" single out on Italy's Avant label, and their latest LP on S-S is called Take the Sky.
Los Llamarada - Live at WFMU 11/18/08 Part One (Sagan vocals) (MP3)
Los Llamarada - Live at WFMU 11/18/08 Part Two (Estrella vocals) (MP3)
For what it's worth, I think the Cranberries swiped the intro for one of their hits from the Dead C's "Crazy I Know"! Don't ask me which one, though.
Posted by: Greg from Detroit | November 24, 2008 at 06:31 PM
For what it's worth, I think the Cranberries swiped the intro for one of their hits from the Dead C's "Crazy I Know"! Don't ask me which one, though.
Posted by: Greg from Detroit | November 24, 2008 at 06:32 PM
Greg, I'm not listening to you after you told me in Philly all about your perceived connection between Tomata Du Plenty and Chris Isaak.
Posted by: Brian Turner | November 24, 2008 at 09:30 PM
I think the Cranberries swiped the intro for one of their hits from the Dead C's "Crazy I Know"! :)
Posted by: mp3 download | November 25, 2008 at 05:51 AM
¡aw man chingón!
Posted by: mexist | December 03, 2008 at 03:20 PM
one of the most overrated bands of 2008. i guess they got hyped up so much because they were from mexico. the ideas are so unoriginal, even the title "take the sky" is so typical. in every american and english major city you can find some band that can do a Wire cover song. so what.
what a waste of vinyl. they should keep the psychologist jobs.
Posted by: honky mofo | December 07, 2008 at 01:49 AM
Wow. So good live. New alb is fabulous. People Who Know Music Better Than Me and You (see above) will always hate on them, all the better to make me embrace them. Best soul act in the Northern Hemisphere!
Posted by: JZS | December 09, 2008 at 02:17 PM
I agree, while they might be the most exciting band in Mexico, in the States and in Europe there have been tons of bands with that no-wave meets Pink Flag type sound. Just take a look at the Troubleman Unlimited bands from like 1999-2003. They sound like some teenagers who just discovered no-wave, that would be nice but in reality they are like 40 year old Mexicans with serious jobs. WFMU is heavily rotating all the S-S stuff, I guess they give lots of free promos to the director there. That's nice, at least they are not heavily rotating MTV2 type stuff like LCD Soundsystem or Mogwai, like so many other so-called independent radio stations do.
Someone on another blog, probably from the S-S pushy promo team, wrote that they "killed live at SXSW". It's probably not that hard to "kill" there now, that event has become such a corporate enterprise. With all those lousy bands that sound the same and who want to become the next Yeah Yeah Yeah or some other over hyped Brooklyn crud that will fade away after one album.
Maybe someone does actually like them out there. I would rather listen to the Ex-Models make noise for one hour instead of having to hear this bad typical no-wave stereotype for 10 minutes.
Next year they will probably change back into a Mexican ska band.
Posted by: Miko | December 11, 2008 at 03:06 PM
Hey, there's no accounting for taste, especially when it comes to measuring up to the Troubleman bar. I will, however, say that I gladly pay for my S-S product, and when LL become a Mexican Ska band again (LL: Los Llamarada, Los Lobos, did no one pick up on that missing clue?) I will certainly buy that record too, because they'll probably turn the genre as inside out as they have No Wave (unlike the 8,000 other paint-by-numbers revisionist wannabes out there polluting the stages).
Posted by: BrianTurner | December 11, 2008 at 03:24 PM
yes their live performances are good , thank you....
Posted by: mert | February 03, 2009 at 11:36 AM