EN LA CAMA CON ANNTONA, ANNTONAGramaciones Grabofonicas, Spain ***1/2
Rating: 70
By Carlos Reyes
Is it me, or is Spain’s pop transitioning to a weird level of psychedelic bump? As soon as authors realized that they can share their songs without having a good voice, now there is this big group of guys imposing the popular demand for music that is pleasant to the ear, usually meaning a voice on pitch waiting for the musical arrangement and accompaniment to support its survival. Parents, now you can tell your kid he can be a singer even if he sounds like a rooster. I don’t want to go to Manos de Topo right now, but for those not aware of this movement I must warn you, Anntona is one of them, probably the sweetest one also. He is the guitarist of Los Punsetes, the revelation in Spanish rock last year; in this sense, he shares a lot with other colleagues who are now upfront in side journeys, like Joe Crepusculo who is part of Tarantula or El Guincho’s partner Aleix who recently formed Extraperlo. El Guincho describes this shift as “good pop singed like if they didn’t give a damn.” En La Cama Con Anntona is enganging, but let’s get it straight, even when he is talking about ugly girls, odors and porn, there’s this innocence dancing around as if it wasn’t aware to what’s been exposed or its implication with the sound. It’s really interesting how this projects approach the listener, I’m sure they don’t care too much if you like them, but they do make an effort to grab you in, and “Nunca es tarde” is like a hypnotizing session smoothing your entrance to a layer of the bizarre, and what’s more convincing to manipulate your mind than a self-reflecting song of all kinds, wants you to know of timeless youth and that it is never too late to love, or grow a beard. “Y ademas bastante fea” is been called an instant classic, I think it is way too funny to starting inflating a harmless song. Two female voices show up, both sound beautiful if you asked me, first Ariadna Punset vocalist of Los Punsetes in the pessimistic “Podia Volar” and in the best song of the album La Bien Querida in the reggaetonesque “Tu Hueles Mejor.” I’m glad to see some people are conscious of the beat and care enough to make something good out of it, remember “Cuando Hablamos” by Javiera Mena? It’s not an entirely fortunate album, some songs are heavy and dry, but I guess there is plenty of moisture to spread around through “Todo el mundo tiene porno en casa.”