Feature: Bam Bam - "Ragatrón"
Arts & Crafts Mexico
Bam Bam is perhaps, the most lauded and best critically-perceived band hailing from the Nene Records catalog. It was once Monterrey’s best-kept secret, but the band is on its way to conquer a broader audience now that they’re signed under Arts & Crafts (Mexico). Early in 2008, the band released its first self-titled record, which we described as “a consequence of pop music’s transcoding into scattered rock, one that breathes youth and exhales a virtuous shrewd of instrumental & lyrical skill.” This was the moment we recognized the Bam Bam as one of Mexico’s true new great bands. Bam Bam’s landscape-defying rock surprised us and moved us. It also came to reaffirm our skepticism towards other crowd-pleasing Mexican bands (Zoe, Bengala, etc), who despite making honest efforts, were simply not very stimulating.
“Ragatrón” is the leading single off their new record Futura Vía, produced by Bam Bam’s Mou & Martin Thulin. It only takes a second into the song to feel you’re being lifted to a higher ground; it’s a whimsical dance-battle among light, instruments, and electronic swarms. The soundscape in “Ragatrón” is as packed as our galaxy, yet it gravitates with ease among the gas dust, cosmic rays, and all that stellar matter surrounding intergalactic space. And you get to this setting just with the instrumental core. The lyrics narrate a beautiful story; ‘Ragatron’ seems to be the name of a very kind galactic creature/force who invites a ‘lost dreamer’ into a life-changing journey. The time-jumping adventure makes him experience space, glimpse the great extinction (of Dinasours? Humans?), and tells him he is not lost: “no estas perdido, eres lo que falta en la ecuación.”