Algorecords, Chile
Rating: 70
by Carlos Reyes
It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that Los Saicos were on active duty for barely two years. Sometimes that’s all it takes to change the gears of music. The academic appreciation for the inadvertent proto-punk pioneers rises through the years, and the Saicomania gains cult followers by the minute. Whether for the regional proximity or the sound alone, Chilean newcomers La BIG Rabia will eventually be pushed to make the conversation on the authority of their influences. Particularly as the band doesn’t disclose the Peruvian legends as a direct weight in the backbone of their storm-of-disease and very Saico-esque debut EP, La Bestia.
While it’s discomforting to inherit a debt, and there’s not a sealed-and-approved list of bands to add to a band’s press kit, sometimes absences make themselves too notorious (particularly in rock & roll). “A new rabid discourse” is La BIG Rabia’s seemingly outspoken premise. A bold (to the books), yet eyebrow-raising (for the punk fans) argument as they flirt with the positions of being rocanrol social activists and/or plain pupils. The vision is dim for almost any band claiming to bring a new message but, when you think about it, an actual rock act living through the glorious years of Chilean pop is quite enlightening. For a band that opens the show with a call-for-action piece called “Para todos los Hijos de Puta,” the band sounds aptly grumpy. La BIG Rabia offers no lube to its frustrations and plows everything from politics to love–this is music that exists and rises from the angst of corruption.
La Bestia is obscure in its own contempt, and that works wonders in favor of members Sebastian Orellana and Ivan Molina, both from the also generation-squashing band Philipina Bitch. These guys are raw in shock value and smitten by nature–in other words, the idyllic band for a '60s punk revival. Album best “Nos gusta que sea asi” is a raucous groove about the joy of losing control. The sexual and motorized journeys in this track will have you thinking you’ve finally lost sanity and encountered the true root of evil. It’s ultimately tracks like this that overpower any mortification on the band’s referential. Because even in all its posture, La Bestia is more than just a successful introductory EP–it’s the raging, commanding start for a band that isn’t exactly ready for its demolición moment just yet, but doesn’t seem to mind the pinching of the diseased roads ahead either.
♫♫♫ "Nos gusta que sea asi" | Download (Short Version) | Facebook