Los Claveles - Mesetario

Mesetario, Los Claveles
Gramaciones Grabofónicas, Spain
Rating: 84
by Enrique Coyotzi

Let’s face it: Los Claveles can be, if not in the proper mood, a boring band to listen to, at least for the casual pop fan. The band's exciting initial tunes, even with all their lo-fi production à la Guided By Voices, past eras' rock & roll traces, and particular ironic sense of humor didn’t appear to fully convince all of our staff. Even though “Nacional 42” was our number one song last year, the self-titled 7”, while nostalgically ambitious, left some of us cold with the rest of the songs included. One year later, Los Claveles have broadened their canvas, refining it in their debut LP, Mesetario, which politely steps away from the rockers' first releases while polishing a clear-cut, more approachable sound, never losing the intimate qualities that have made them one of our classic revivalist darlings.

“Avanzamos hacia la libertad a pasos agigantados” declares anthemic opener “Estafas,” capturing in its first seconds a greater, more direct sensation than in any of the group’s previous compositions. Hell, it even features some handclaps and a steady bass line inevitably reminiscent of early ‘80s post-punk. The aforementioned quote resounds excellently in Los Claveles’ recent offerings. From Nacional 42 to Mesetario, their growth into full-liberty in a short lapse of time has been revealing. Recruiting Sergio Pérez (of Pegasvs/Thelemáticos fame), significantly enhanced the four-piece ensemble's regression in time into an up-to-date realm. It's fair to think The Strokes' Is This It, and, although we know it ain't quite there, Mesetario evokes similar back-to-basics zones, at the same time outlining a melodious capability and a consolidated status that should place them as one of Spain's most valuable talents.

Setting a splendid pace for the rest of the album, first single "Estafas" is visceral and claimant. The pleasurable collection of songs that is Mesetario should enchant longtime listeners, while unsurprisingly acquiring a new batch of followers. In each note played, Los Claveles exhibit how they've reached a comfortable balance nuanced by their ever clever lyrics ("La Pena Negra") and courageous arrangements ("Acertijo"). While the majority of these pieces are in the vein of rock-oriented, driving smashers, Los Claveles beautifully tackle dreamier, consoling works, like the breathtaking "Relicario" or swirling instrumental "La vida es un sueño." However, the best moments come when the band let their hair down. Title track, a commanding hymn that condemns nights to be used for sleeping ("¡Las noches no son para dormir!") makes me feel what Los Tucanes de Tijuana—although in a total different universe—ultimately didn't achieve in "Me gusta vivir de noche": the latent desire to stay awake until the sun comes up. "La Ruta Destroy" and "Cuidado con Sergifuente" are equally highlights in this sense, both arousing, daring, and, most importantly, lots of fun.

Gorgeously and invigoratingly reminding us the reasons we've been faithful to them in the first place, the greatly entertaining Mesetario sets Los Claveles as a band that hadn't exploited some of their richer attributes until now. But as proved in Mesetario, one of the year's best guitar albums, along with Protistas' Las Cruces, there's plenty of imagination and endurance to be awaited in these four creative brains. In the meantime, we can always come back and blast this delightful full-length as we are witnesses of how it evolves through time.

Anntona - Grandes males, remedios regulares

Grandes males, remedios regulares,
Anntona
Gramaciones Grabofónicas, Spain
Rating: 77
by Pierre Lestruhaut

There’s a particular sample in Grandes males, remedios regulares, the latest release from Anntona (guitarist of Los Punsetes), that serves as an interlude between the two-songs-in-one “ECI/Amorcitos,” and in which we can hear a man with a heavy French accent saying “I want to fuck her” in regards to an American woman who’s obviously shocked by the situation. Had I not been a huge Gainsbourg enthusiast I would have completely failed to see the origin of the uncredited sample and, thus, would have never been able to make reference to his well-known encounter with Whitney Houston on French TV. The reason why I focus on this 30-second sample isn’t for pure Gainsbourg-ian geekdom, but because it actually feels revelatory in how the man is somehow important in the way Anntona and Los Punsetes approach pop music.

Serge Gainsbourg was a '60s French pop idol whose early songs were generally very much in line with what the rest of the yé-yé crowd were doing, but as much as his name was engraved in that particular '60s pop aesthetic, he is mostly remembered for having France Gall implicitly and unawarely sing about blow jobs (and swallowing), making Jane Birkin moan with pleasure in a highly erotic internationally banned but later to become hit song, and, in his most accomplished work, conceiving a full album around the sole theme of statutory rape. Anntona and Los Punsetes on the other hand, are sonically placed along the line of Spaniard indie pop, praising the melodic simplicity and charm of Donosti Sound, devoting themselves to the uninterested and lazy vocal styles of Sr. Chinarro, while also holding onto the Casio synth packaging of Family. Still, the main reason why we love these acts so much is that they can somehow pull out something as charming as “Tú hueles mejor” or as haunting as “Cien metros para el cementerio,” while still giving out vocal hooks like “que le den por culo a tus amigos” and “todo el mundo tiene porno en casa,” which are both hilarious and excessively crude alongside the overall romanticism of Spaniard indie pop.

Grandes males, remedios regulares starts with the same raunchy resentment displayed in “Tus Amigos” with Anntona declaring, “Hay un montón de mierda en el fondo del pozo [...] he cogido un puñado y os lo voy a tirar,” while “Arruino todo lo que encuentro” turns the exasperation towards himself and his own insecurity issues. “A68” sees Ariadna Punset take a guest spot and leaves us wondering just how great a less guitar and more synth-driven Los Punsetes album would be, while final track “Norman Bates” has Anntona showing off a great ability in the rarely explored territory of electronic-driven Spanish indie pop. Other tracks are less effective in their use of electronic sounds. “Millones de chicas” is a song you’ll want to skip by the time you hit the second “1,2,3,4” Flaming Lips sample, and vocal manipulation feels mostly like a failed experiment on “Qué verde era mi valle.” Still, in the end, where Anntona will mostly have our admiration is for songs like “Caramelos con droga,” the kind where he can display his great handling and understanding of traditional forms (in this case new wave), while leaving his own (and Los Punsetes') singular imprint of obscenely hilarious lyricism with an opening line like “A mí el fin del mundo me pilló cagando.” Some may judge this as terribly lowbrow...we’ll call it auteristic.

♫♫♫ "Arruino todo lo que encuentro" | Stream Album | Facebook

Los Claveles - Nacional 42

Nacional 42, Los Claveles

Gramaciones Grabofonicas, Spain

Rating: 82 ★★★★

by Carlos Reyes

The return of the 7’’ single is nowadays, one of the few current glimpses of the romanticism of the record. Empty alphabetized CD shelves are the horrific ruins of the physicality of commercial records. Indies are however, on a journey to become music collectors. If such transition causes a generation of MP3 & OGG buffs to start archiving music through discs you can actually touch or lineup, than let’s welcome such consumer conduct with open arms. One of the bands doing their share to prevent the record slaughter is Madrid’s new sensation Los Claveles. Their rock takes them back to the early (and dusty) progression of “new wave”, to a time-gap of stand-by insecurity regarding the genre’s future. The wave found glory with its contextualization of electronic equipment, but as Los Claveles show, the movement left some string-wavers behind.



Taking baby steps towards their debut full-length, Los Claveles have brought us some of the most intricate (and romantic-to-the-skull) rock&roll we’ve heard in a while. Last year, they introduced themselves to the world through the wonderful Tanatorio (EP), followed by a split album with Kana Kapila. The band is known for rushing through time, and so they do in the gorgeously crafted Nacional 42, a 7’’ single-release featuring the title track (and Song of the Year contender), along with 3 other amazing tracks that are neither b-sides nor fillers, and deserve spots among Los Claveles’ breath-taking repertory.



First, let’s go straight into the heart of the disc and attempt to do justice to the empowering title track. “Nacional 42” is a dissertation of Spain’s highway A42, described by Los Claveles, as the horrific road where ruin and routine meet. Like some classic road songs (AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”, Roam’s “B52”, etc), this is not the most optimistic song out there; on the contrary, it’s an emotional tragic squash. The dexterity of guitar riffs is enough to outline an interesting doodle that feels humid, harmonic, and hazard. The band sings about a road without a landscape, and sing-prays they don’t get to die among the dried flowers that populate the road. A man’s confrontation to the road parallels with that of his love life; it haunts him, and it keeps him away. Guilt and redemption flirt with the track’s hooks, even saving some room for irony: “dicen que odiar es mas barato que amar, creo que tu y yo no estamos para gastar.” This is like the precursor and more poetic cousin to Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss”, except A42 doesn’t seem to be as slippery.



Although “Nacional 42” is clearly the center, the heart, and the rationale of the album, the rest of the songs go from great to phenomenal. Manolo Dominguez from La Pagina de la Nadadora gets it right when saying “Las Inquietudes de Blanca Maria” smells like burned flesh, I would extend such asserted description to the rest of the songs, and would claim “El Fuego del Recuerdo” is to blame for the 5000+ death birds found in Arkansas early this year. They get more messy and desiccated in “Estupido y Cansado”, the kind of humorous chant that gets hot media interested, and starts all-powerful unions. As vinyl romanticism goes, Nacional 42 should be the essential wax to your ears this year. Of course, as the band shows in their lyrics, nothing in life can be this optimistic. Inventory shows it’s probably too late by now, this is sold out, but even if you go on your way to download it, you’ll get 9.3 MB of some of the year’s best music.

♫♫♫ "Nacional 42"

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Video: "Fondo de Armario" - Los Punsetes

As I mentioned in my review of En La Cama con Anntona that Los Punsetes was the big revelation of Spanish rock last year. I never really put any attention to them, although I’ve always loved “Dos Policias”, I just started listening to their LP, trying to rediscover it and trying to figure out why I never jumped into their wagon, and I have to say it’s a fantastic record, the hardest to digest too. Although originally released free of charge, the album got itself some distribution, which was inevitable after so much critical success. I know their video “Fondo de Armario” was included on a video playlist before, but I get a feeling you didn’t see it, it's currently in my top 5 singles of the year.

♫♫♫ "Fondo de Armario"
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