Argentine rock
Encyclopedia
Argentine rock is composed or made by Argentine
bands or artists, in the Spanish language. For nearly half a century it has been a major popular genre, and it is considered part of the popular music tradition of Argentina alongside Argentine Tango, and Argentine folk music.
The moment when Argentine rock began as a distinct musical style can be traced to the middle 1960s, when several garage groups and aspiring musicians began composing songs and lyrics
that related to local social and musical themes. Rock & Roll itself, however, began in Argentina almost a decade before. During that time until the rise of Argentine rock, local groups recycled the hits of English-language rock & roll. Since then, Argentine rock started a continued and uninterrupted evolution through the 1970s and into the 1980s, when it turned into an international genre. Today it is widely considered the most prolific and successful form of Rock en Español
, and one of the most important non-English language
forms of rock music in the world.
In Argentina it is known as "Rock Nacional" (/rok.nasjo'nal/), literally National Rock (not in a political way at all but as a local movement).
A distinct trait of Argentine rock is its uncompromising stance to sing rock only in the Spanish language
. Rock music is made in many languages around the world, but in most cases it shares the lyrical creative pen with English. The Argentine rock movement was one of the first non-English forms of rock to be commercially successful outside its own nation. To this day it is rare for an Argentine rock band to sing in a language other than Spanish as it happens in other nations and languages, and even within Latin America and Spain (except to convey a sense of artistic free license, or in an attempt to isolate their message or aesthetic). Argentine rock today is a broad term describing a number of rock styles and sub-cultures within Argentina.
Rock and Roll music emerged from the United States from a Rhythm & Blues
base, gaining international popularity in the 1950s with artists like Elvis Presley
and Bill Haley
(who visited Argentina in 1958), awakening the interest of several Argentine artists with ideas to replicate their sounds.
Argentine garage bands sprung up in the wake of the early days of rock and roll. Most notable among them was Sandro y Los de Fuego, whom recorded a very decent series of Spanish language covers of rock and roll hits from that time, and attained commercial popularity. Sandro would soon embark on his own contemporary pop standards career that would make him popular internationally.
phenomenon.
There was a development unique to Argentina which may help to explain, in retrospect, why the country would become a very important rock producing nation.
The historians call a parallel development curve with the United States in certain aspects of culture. Both countries were the destination for millions of Europeans, and their musical heritage were heavily influenced by Pan-European folk and traditional marches. These similar musical infusions yielded related results in both: a grass-roots rural guitar-based musical tradition, becoming Bluegrass
and Country in the US, in Argentina Folklore
and Pampas music. Country music
is an important pillar of Rock & Roll. In Argentina folklore (at that time Nueva canción
was sweeping Argentina), was increasingly crossing over to popular musical trends by the late 1950s.
By 1965, rock music was making rapid developments in Argentina. On television, several shows such as Ritmo y Juventud and El Club del Clan, with singers like Palito Ortega
, Violeta Rivas, Chico Navarro, and Lalo Fransen, were introducing Sunny Pop, which owed equal amounts to merseybeat and to Argentine romantic pop.
But it was in the underground where the most fundamental figures of early Argentine rock would emerge. In former Jazz
bars like "La Cueva" or "La Perla del Once", bohemian elements like Moris, Pajarito Zaguri, Javier Martinez - drummer and lead singer in the most known Argentinian blues band: Manal, Miguel Abuelo
, and Tanguito
would gather in the lazy days of mid-60s Argentina to exchange ideas. Los Beatnicks
, of which Moris and Martinez where members, began the transition that would slowly take Argentine rock from imitator to a more creative state (while still following UK trends mainly). Forming in quiet beaches of Villa Gesell
, they recorded the first Spanish language
single in 1966 called "Rebelde".
The definitive breakthrough of Spanish-language, original material rock would be up to the band Los Gatos
. After playing in "La Cueva" for a few months (and members of the band being arrested on a regular basis by police, for political reasons), the band released two singles in 1967. "La Balsa", a sunny track vaguely reminiscent of The Doors
, was composed by Tanguito and sold 200,000 copies. The following year saw the first publicatio of Pinap, a rock magazine, and the founding of the first Argentine rock label, Mandioca. In 1969, four major concerts of so-called "música beat" ("beat music
") were held: the June Sunday concerts, Festival Nacional de Música Beat, Festival Pinap and Festival de Música Joven.
In the wake of Los Gatos, an explosion of bands emerged including Luis Alberto Spinetta
's Almendra, the most influential band of the late '60s, and Manal
, the first successful blues-oriented group in Spanish. The three are considered the founding trilogy of the Argentine rock movement. None of these groups would have an extended history, in fact most disbanded by the early '70s. The early Argentine rock scene was characterized by a lot of line-up changes in bands, and even member swapping between bands, or members of different bands meeting and forming new groups. However, the shuffles provided for a lot of experimentation and creativity.
Almendra would split with Spinetta forming Pescado Rabioso
, and the remaining members forming Color Humano
and Aquelarre
. By 1970, Vox Dei
and their unique mixture of hard nosed rock with subtle melodious undertones refreshed the movement. Their album "La Biblia" (The Bible) is one of the seminal works of the early '70s, even getting an unusual stamp of approval by the Catholic Church. In that same year, the first B.A (Buenos Aires
) Rock festival would be the first showcase of a rising sub-genre that would dominate the first half of 1970s Argentine rock. A new group of musicians was to bring new ideas to the mixing bowl of early Argentine rock.
That the original creators of the movement were now passing the torch to another batch of bands and musicians was a historically enormous development: it would set Argentine rock apart. While in other countries the original wave in the wake of the US or British rock invasions never sustained itself completely and quieted down, in Argentina not only did it continue, it evolved into its own realm and style more independent from rock music of the United States or Britain. From 1965, Argentine rock, with a solid line of ascent and evolution, became the most important rock movement in the Spanish-speaking world.
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By the turn of the decade the first real diversification in Argentine rock began taking place. In reality, the split had been brewing even before, as some bands began playing much heavier music, with the world of rock entering the Heavy metal
era. Among them, Pescado Rabioso
, Vox Dei
, and Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock. But out of all of the heavy rock bands, Pappo's Blues would become the most influential heavy metal band and blues
artist of its era in Argentina, and also acclaimed overseas (even playing with B.B. King in New York City). Another important but overlooked heavy rock act of the period is El Reloj, but they would drift towards progressive in the following years.
Conversely, the first B.A Rock festival (now promoted by Pinap magazine successor Revista Pelo), had many of the artists and bands that would lead the Acoustic
rock movement: Gustavo Santaolalla
forming Arco Iris
, León Gieco
's rock-folk hybrid, Sui Generis
and the start of Charly García
's music career, Raul Porchetto
, and Pedro y Pablo, among other bands. These groups not only turned to Argentine folk for inspiration, they began experimenting with South American musical styles as well; their lyrics becoming increasingly poetic with concerns about nature and the human condition.
The proliferation of these bands and their increasing popularity, the early '70s being the height of the hippie
movement in Argentina, led to the Acusticazo of 1972. Several acoustic rock bands would gain popularity from their performances there, including Vivencia
, Pastoral
, and Alma y Vida
. The behemothic success of the Acusticazo was a turning point, Argentine rock would enter a new era of increased greater appeal.
In that year also, Tanguito
was killed when he was hit by a train
. Conspiracies about his death abound, including that he committed suicide and even that he was thrown on to the tracks by police. A man dealing with heavy drug usage, others contend he simply might have tripped. The 1993 motion picture Tango Feroz ("Wild Tango"), would tell the life of Tanguito to new generations and the movie was an international hit.
As the 1970s progressed, acoustic rock continued as the most popular style in the country, with the above mentioned and other bands dominating the charts and musical tastes. And for the first time in its history, Argentine rock began spreading overseas: Sui Generis and Pastoral attained some popularity with counter-culture hippies in Latin America, and even Japan (Pastoral had an EP edited there). But a major shift was at hand.
Sui Generis
began shifting from their classic acoustic rock to a more electric and visceral sound. Also, stirring in the Argentine underground were new bands with a radically different sound from either acoustic or heavy rock: influenced by some of acoustic rock's more experimental works (such as Arco Iris and their phenomenal Agitor Lucens V with its world music influences), by Tango music
and also by British progressive rock
. This would be the blueprint of Argentine progressive rock that would bloom into the apex of the movement in 1975. As that year began few could foresee what a watershed it would become not just in Argentine rock history, but the country's too.
Charly García
and Nito Mestre
decided it was time to quit Sui Generis, almost as if they felt the winds of change. And so their final two concerts at the Luna Park
Arena took place on September 5 of that year, the most important acoustic rock band saying good-bye to 30,000 people. Historians have come to see the Sui Generis farewell concerts as the end of the 'Classic' Argentine rock era. Acoustic rock was passing into history: bands dissolved, changed their sound, and those that remained lost popularity and became only cult followings. Argentine progressive rock was on the rise, and so was the political repression to freedoms of expression.
Also, several bands would leave the country for greener pastures in Europe, mostly Spain, among them Moris and Aquelarre
. The dictatorship there was almost at an end, and Spanish rock was in its infancy with bands like Triana
, Tequila, and Asfalto. Interestingly, in Spain rock bands composed their songs in English. It was not until the arrival of Argentine bands with their Spanish language songs that local bands massively switched to singing in their own language, forever changing the development of rock music in Spain.
The Classic era of Argentine rock music was completely over by 1976. As this year began, Argentine rock became far more sophisticated, grandiose, and conceptual. A few acoustic bands would continue having moderate success, including Pastoral
, and Nito Mestre y Los Desconocidos de Siempre. But it was the beginning of the period of symphonic and progressive rock dominance.
Perhaps the first major act of symphonic/progressive was Crucis. Their music began attracting attention in the underground, and so they started getting bigger performing venues. As change swept Argentine rock in 1975, their music was rapidly rising to popular musical tastes. Their compositions were strong and dynamic with surprising breaks, and the interplay between the electric guitar (often spectacular wah-wah) and keyboards captivating. The rhythm-section sounded powerful and adventurous.
Espíritu, who formed in 1973 but had roots since 1969, would go on to be an internationally followed group in the latter part of symphonic rock's heyday. The first album Crisalida is cited as their best effort, with beautiful and alternating compositions and changing atmospheres (from mellow with acoustic guitar to up-tempo with heavy electric guitar), lush keyboards and some vocal harmonies.
Formerly heavies El Reloj turned to prog with 1975's self-titled album. Their sound has been pinned down as vaguely consonant with Uriah Heep
's mystic and proggy sound.
A symphonic band that would have a great year in 1976 was ALAS
. Their music was even more intellectual and unorthodox. ALAS would feature artists such as Rodolfo Mederos
and Pedro Aznar
. Luis Alberto Spinetta
would begin his third band Invisible later in that year. Their symphonic sound tinged with tango
would bring critical praise. A band that showed a lot of promise that never materialized was Reino de Munt. Formed by Raul Porchetto
, it featured a young Alejandro Lerner
, and musicians like Gustavo Basterrica and Frank Ojsterseck.
Charly García
formed his first post-Sui Generis
band, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
, which began Garcia's dwellings in symphonic and progressive. Other symphonic and progressive bands of renown would be Torax, Ave Rock, Anacrusa, and Materia Gris.
Arco Iris
meanwhile continued expanding on their symphonic-folk rock and were joined by veteran Chilean band Los Jaivas
, whom were escaping the Pinochet dictatorship that had overtaken their nation in 1973. The two along with Contraluz were the main exponent of the sub-genre.
On March 24, 1976, the democratic government was toppled by a military coup. It opened one of the darkest political chapters in Argentina's history, full of repression, fear, and missing citizens. Argentine rock by no means would be immune to the military crackdown, and would suffer the worst censure period of its history. Rock was seen as subversive by the nation's authority figures, who began to clamp down on the music. In a 1976 speech, Admiral Emilio Massera denounced rock musicians and fans as potential subversives and repression of them began in 1977. Before the end of the decade, rock had gone increasingly underground.
In spite of this however, the music would continue its development against the odds. Along with the plethora of symphonic/progressive bands, heavies Vox Dei
and Pappo's Blues continued to sustain their popularity during the period. Yet another heavy metal band, Plus, made their debut in '76 and enjoyed success through the end of the decade.
At the height of symphonic rock, Crucis was joined at the top by the popularity of Espíritu; the two are generally seen as the most well-known outfits of the symphonic rock period. La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
efforts were impressive as well, their first album featuring many of the elements of good prog: intricate ensemble work, good individual performances, great melodies, dynamic contrast, and interesting arrangements.
1977 was a year of separation and endings: Crucis would disband at the end of the year. In heavy metal, Pappo
's blues would see their near seven year run end. Aquelarre
would return from their Spain stint, but following a tour run went their separate ways.
But the year would show a glimpse at the future: a band from La Plata called Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
, with their comical costumes and nervy fast tempos, started performing. 1977 was a year of one-year wonders: Soluna (Gustavo Santaolalla
's 2nd group), with their electric folk, and Orion's Beethoven, a progressive band that played since 1969 but had their moment of fame eight years later. Neither band sustained their popularity into 1978. Bubu with their album Anabelas was 1978's one-year wonder.
And even more bands ceased to be. After two successful albums that featured several would-be classics of the era, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
hung up, as did Invisible, leaving as a legacy two of the greatest albums in Argentine rock's history: Invisible and Jardin de los Presentes. Pastoral
, one of last acoustic groups still successful, split by 1978, as did ALAS
. With the country gripped by World Cup mania (Argentina was host in 1978), and the Disco music craze, rock music suffered the worst drought since its inception. The media was openly calling out 'the death' of Argentine rock.
Throughout its history, Argentine rock had the strange fortune to get exactly what in needed at the right time, fuelling an even greater expansion in the music. Sandro y los del fuego in '63 with their Argentine rockabilly igniting inspiration; the Uruguayan Invasion
of 1965 that proved the commercial viability of non-US or UK bands; the massive hit of "La Balsa" by Los Gatos in '67 showing Spanish language
rock could be appealing to the masses; the Acusticazo of '72. In the drought days of 1978, what Argentine rock needed was its first successful 'superband'. It got it in Seru Giran
.
In 1977 Charly García got together with his friend David Lebón, an ex member of Luis Alberto Spinetta
's famous band Pescado Rabioso
, to write songs in Brazil. There Charly re-encountered Oscar Moro
, the drummer of his former band "La Máquina De Hacer Pájaros" and they decided to invite him to help compose new material. The trio soon decided that instead of selling their songs like they had originally planned, they would play them themselves in a new band. Now all they needed was a bass player. Pedro Aznar
was a lesser known bassist who had once been a member of progressive rock group "ALAS". He also happened to be a friend of Moro's, who knew of Aznar's ability with the funk and jazz base. Moro brought Anzar into the group and they began to prepare themselves.
Charly, Moro, Lebón, and Aznar managed two major things with Serú Girán. The first was to create a sound that was truly distinctive from anything in English-language rock. The second was their ability to massively achieve popularity in the lower and upper classes with their style of rock. Serú Girán
could be 'brainy' yet unpretentious rockers simultaneously.
Partly because the group lived for three months in northeast Brazil, the band's first album shows clear influences of Brazilian music, mixed with symphonic rock and jazz
. But the band's first live concert to support the album created one of the strangest anecdotes in Argentine rock: the fans did not understand the strange costumes the band used (entirely in white except for Garcia with a black jacket and shoes); and then when they played the song "Disco Shock", a satire poking fun at disco music (which was at its height in 1978), people thought they were really serious. Whistles and boos would follow and what should have been a great concert turned into a fiasco, with fans clamoring for Sui Generis
songs. People failed to get the message and Serú Girán
did not get their point across too well either. It would all fuel wild speculations about the member's sexual orientations, a PR nightmare at the time.
But the group bounced back with a vengeance with their 2nd album La Grasa de las Capitales. It was well received by the specialized press, and would cement their status as the most popular band of their time. Serú Girán's third album Bicicleta (1980) was tepidly received at first, but in time would be considered the band's best work. Both albums departed from the symphonic rock of the first LP, the music turning more visceral and 'simple' with less arrangement and pomp. Serú Girán would not be isolated in this trend, as slowly Argentine rock was writing the final chapters in its symphonic and progressive period.
, now with their less pretentious sound, at the top of the charts. Vox Dei
entered their 3rd decade in rock, a virtual first for any local band, and León Gieco
's popularity as a solo artist was on the rise.
One of the last progressive bands of importance would be Tantor
. They were less symphonic and far more prog-experimental, with jazz
as a major support. Their first eponymous album was a hit in the scene, and the band would continue till the mid 1980s as one of the last bands of the progressive era.
Seru Giran
went touring in Brazil in 1980, where their reception by fans at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in Rio de Janeiro
was so overwhelming that the organizers requested that they perform again, the next day, but on the main stage with jazz-rockers Weather Report
. There, Pedro Aznar
met Pat Metheny
, and Aznar gave him some cassettes with his own works. Seru Giran returned home, edited "Bicicleta" and gathered 60,000 fans in La Rural
back in Buenos Aires
chanting no se banca más (it isn't bearable anymore, alluding to the dictatorship). That year they had also performed in concert with Spinetta Jade, Luis Alberto Spinetta
's latest project and the other popular rock group of the early 1980s. It was a great event in which both bands eventually played some songs of each other's repertoire.
Spinetta Jade was a blend of jazz and rock that escaped the trappings of symphonic rock, something that was unseen in Argentina at that time. Towards the last two albums, the sound became a little bit more "pop", and embedded with electronic elements (samplers and synthesizers with "artificial" textures).
Seru Giran released their fourth album Peperina in 1981 and promoted it on tour, but by the end of the year Pedro Aznar
decided to leave the band because he wanted to study at Berklee. (When he was there, by the end of 1982, he was called to join his loved Pat Metheny Group
). Seru Giran (which at the time was even planning tours in Europe), had a strong sendoff on March 6–7, 1982, when they performed for the last time at the Arena Obras Sanitarias
. A memorable moment was the performance of the song "No llores por mi Argentina" ("Don't Cry for me Argentina", which has no relation to the Evita musical theme); a song full of symbolisms. It was not only a farewell for Aznar, and for Seru Giran, but for an era in Argentine music, and history. The timing was beyond befitting.
Argentina's economy was in full recession in 1982, and discontent with the military government was rampant. On April 2, the world would awake yet again in the 20th century to the horror of war. After a season of death and destruction in the South Atlantic in which both sides suffered sunken ships, aircraft blown from the sky, and hundreds of young lives cut short, the United Kingdom regained control over the Falkland Islands
(Islas Malvinas). The popularity of the Argentine military government hit then bottom, and democratic elections were called shortly after.
In May of '82 the Festival for Latin American Solidarity brought together all the great bands of Argentine rock. It was a festival in support of the troops overseas, and also a veiled protest to war, and a call for peace (at first the musicians feared appearing for risk of being portrayed pro-war). This event was the final stepping stone of Argentine rock in becoming the dominant form of music in the country. At the same time, English-language rock was wiped out from radio play. The programmers had to fill the voids with something, and that was with Argentine rock. This created the opportunity of exposure to countless underground bands. It would set the foundations for the explosion of rock in the mid 1980s.
In the latter days of symphonic rock, a great number of new groups started popping
seemingly out of nowhere. In reality, these were bands influenced by post-punk
, new wave
from the US and Britain, and by the more symphonic and less progressive side of Argentine rock. Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
, who had started in 1977, were growing a larger following on a monthly basis. In 1979 in La Plata, Federico Moura would form a new-wave pioneering band called Virus
. In Buenos Aires
, three young men influenced by the advent of post-punk
in Britain started exchanging ideas, and decided to form a band with the name Soda Stereo
.
In 1980 friends who were enthralled by the wave of US and UK punk formed the band Los Violadores
. Miguel Abuelo
, a founding figure of Argentine rock in the 60s, would return after a decade in Europe and form Los Abuelos de la Nada
, which happened to feature a young man by the name of Andres Calamaro
. Someone named Miguel Mateos
, after talking to Freddie Mercury
, won the opportunity to open for Queen
in Buenos Aires with his new band ZAS
. At the local pubs in Mendoza
a pop-rock act called Los Enanitos Verdes appeared. An Italian of Scottish background named Luca Prodan
arrived in Argentina to fight his heroin addiction, worsened by the death of his friend Ian Curtis
of Joy Division
. Prodan would form Sumo
. This band, one of the least conventional in Argentina at the time, and since, has been voted Best Argentine Band by a poll composed by Rock Journalists in 2009. Despite its 'underground' status, it has fervent followers in Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and a plethora of countries world-wide.
From the Festival of Latin American Solidarity emerged solo artists that would go on to delve into a more adult oriented form of rock and pop music, with the Argentine youngsters of the '60s now mature adults. Some of these names were Juan Carlos Baglietto
(who was optimistic about a young musician from Rosario named Fito Páez
), Alejandro Lerner
, and Celeste Carballo. In heavy metal, Pappo
founded his new band Riff
, and newcomers V8
and La Torre
would emerge. New "funny" rock bands like Los Twist
, Sueter, and girl-riot Viudas e Hijas de Roque Enroll crashed to the scene infusing Argentine rock with needed dosages of humor and self-deprecation. On the goth
side of rock, La Sobrecarga would carry the torch.
And for the first time in Argentine rock history there was a "revival" of an earlier style, with Acoustic rock making a comeback on the back of reunions by Almendra and Manal
. On the other hand Charly García
and Luis Alberto Spinetta
embarked on their solo careers. Moris returned from his period in Spain.
Meanwhile, Argentina entered a new era with the inauguration of Raúl Alfonsín
as president of a fully democratic nation. Rock bands would no longer be harassed and even censored by the powers-that-be, and freedom of expression flowered. Songs critical of the military that were in prior years censored, some with exquisite lyrical poetry and allegory, were released during this time: "Tiempos Dificiles" by Fito Páez (sung by Juan Carlos Baglietto), "Maribel se Durmió" by Luis Alberto Spinetta, "Sólo le pido a Dios" by León Gieco and "Los dinosaurios" by Charly García. A more direct criticism of the military government that ended in 1983 came from the Argentine punk groups like Los Violadores (singing songs like "Represión") or seminal heavy metal bands like V8.
Finally, segments of Argentine rock moved away from the music hall and 'solemn' era, full of very heavy lyrics and concerns with domestic issues. It started to lighten up and turn more irreverent, and to focus on mundane concerns such as money, love, and sports. This would make the music and lyrics far more accessible (and commercial) to international audiences.
The stage was set for the boom of Argentine rock in Latin America and beyond.
(who would end up convicted for the fire in another club 22 years later, see "Fire at Cromagnon Nightclub"), featuring some of the first presentations of three underground bands: Sumo
, Soda Stereo
, and Los Twist
. Both Sumo and Soda Stereo featured slightly different line-ups in their early days, with Sumo having an English girl, Stephanie Nuttal, at drums. She returned to England when war broke out between her country and Argentina. Also in '82 Charly García
released his full-album solo debut, the acclaimed Yendo de la Cama al Living.
"One could feel the winds of change" in 1983 Argentina. A cliché perhaps, but at no time more appropriately used. Everything was optimism about the future, the country, and music. Even technology cooperated with the palpable change: it was the year the compact disc
was introduced. And 1984 was the year of female rock: Patricia Sosa and her heavy rock band La Torre
were voted best band of the year and "Solo quiero Rock and Roll" best single, a first for a female lead rock act. Another female vocal band, Los Twist
, and their superbly catchy tunes about nothing were also doing very well, but the group suffered a blow when Fabiana Cantilo
left.
As the early 1980s progressed it became clear that the new generation of rockers were not like anything before: Los Violadores
pioneering punk
in Latin America; Virus
oxygenating rock with their new-wave sound; Sumo
's punkish reggae-rock growing a fanatical cult (Luca Prodan
sung mostly in English, which reduced his band's radio exposure yet their fame expanded unabated); and Soda Stereo
the buzz of the underground. ZAS
introduced the phrase "rock en tu idioma" (rock in your language). Los Abuelos de la Nada
and newcomers G.I.T. found quick success outside Argentina, a preview of things to come.
By 1985, year in which Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
formed, several bands began receiving consistent airplay across Latin America. Argentine rock began "climbing" the continent up the Andes
: first Chile
, then Peru
, Ecuador
, Colombia
, Venezuela
. Zeta Bosio
of Soda Stereo
said of this: "We would leave Argentina
and tour in Chile, Peru, etc, and in some places they had never heard a live rock concert before... they said that such music was for another world and wouldn’t work... now it's all joy seeing how it did work and that it now has its own legs..." Argentine rock bands were the first to be signed to multinational record labels for distribution across many nations.
The trickle became a flood as 1986 approached, and by the start of that year it had become a continental phenomenon, reaching Central America
, Mexico
, and crossing the Atlantic to Spain, even as far Italy, France, and Germany. Los Enanitos Verdes
with their energetic pop-rock that appealed through music lines gained previously unseen popularity across borders. The Cadillacs
, with their ska-rock with a heavy Latin infusion, turned instant rock stars across Latin America and eventually worldwide. Rata Blanca
, a heavy metal band formed in 1987 from the ashes of influential early '80s rockers V8
, also conquered the Spanish-speaking world. As did Charly García
, Fito Páez
, and now solo artist Miguel Mateos
. 1986 was the climax of an unprecedented wave of international success for Argentine rock.
It would help to revitalize rock movements in Mexico
and Spain for two reasons: 1) It would create a buzz and excitement in the local rock scenes; 2) it proved to producers and record labels in those countries that "Rock en Español
" could work and make them money. In Mexico, Argentine bands were being marketed by media giants like Televisa
as "rock in your language". Its success changed the landscape of the Mexican scene: it laid the groundwork for Mexican rock
in Spanish to itself expand overseas. In Peru
, the Argentine invasion was a catalyst that brought that country's own movement more to the mainstream. In Chile
, where a few outstanding bands existed even prior to the Argentine boom (see Los Prisioneros
), the flood of rock music coming from their eastern neighbor would fully energize and inspire the local scene, and Argentine rock's influence continues to this day. The current boom in Colombia
n rock can be traced to the 1980s, with most Colombian rock acts citing the Argentine invasion groups as a direct influence. In countries like Paraguay
, Uruguay
, and Bolivia
, the effects were even more profound.
As 1988 began, with the most important Argentine bands (Soda Stereo
, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
, Los Enanitos Verdes
, Rata Blanca
, Charly García
, Andres Calamaro
, Miguel Mateos
, Sumo
, Virus
) on constant tour of Latin America, Europe, and even countries in Asia, the globalization of Argentine rock and pop was complete. By this time the invasion had begun to 'quiet' down in comparison to the prior three years, but its legacy of opening the doors of Argentine rock to massive success beyond its own borders remains to this day.
Soda Stereo
was arguably the most successful and influential rock band in Spanish ever. Even as a few other more recent rock acts have sold more albums (and thus are technically more 'successful'), the influence of Soda Stereo and its music, style, and even 'business acumen' is undeniable. They were also the first Spanish-language band to use all aspects of their popularity to the fullest: their music videos, aesthetic, philosophy, and more. In the beginning they were deeply influenced by new wave and bands such as The Police
, Television
, and Talking Heads
, and by symphonic rockers Luis Alberto Spinetta
and Aquelarre
.
With their first album, the self-titled Soda Stereo
(1984), they reached national success with joyful and ironic lyrics, and a sound that combined pop, reggae, ska, and new wave, but were accused of being superficial and frivolous. The second album, Nada Personal
, strengthened the popularity of the band, with instant classics such as "Nada Personal" and "Cuando Pase el Temblor" opening the doors of the Latin American market; 1986's "Signos
" would heavily increase their popularity and in 1988 they came up with what could arguably be called their masterpiece, their album "Doble Vida
". The musical arrangements and the lyrics reached a subtlety never heard before from the band's production, the most notable example being the album's lead single "En La Ciudad De La Furia", a cryptically metaphorical ode to the band's hometown of Buenos Aires
and the city's inhabitants. They embarked in an extensive tour through Latin America that brought the live album Ruido Blanco
.
With the tour supporting Signos, Soda Stereo
became international superstars. The band would continue their worldwide success well into the 1990s, and evolving their musical sounds unlike almost any other Rock en Español
band. In fact, they would lead the way in the changes Argentine rock would experience as the 1990s drew near.
had finally lost his internal war with alcohol and was found dead on December 22, due to complications from his addiction. His death was a shock to the entire music industry and to millions of heartbroken fans. Following Prodan's death, the members of Sumo
split, founding two new rock outfits: Divididos
and Las Pelotas; both bands became major players of 1990s rock.
Miguel Abuelo
, following gallbladder surgery, was diagnosed with AIDS
; terminally ill, he died from cardiac arrest
on March 26, 1988. Virus
leader Federico Moura's persistent pneumonia fueled rumors of further complications, which ended in the revelation soon after by the singer that he was infected with AIDS
. Moura died on December 21, 1988. Moura's passing completed a dreadful trifecta of musicians who had still much to offer. It was a tough blow for rock. As a group, Virus survived and soldiered on into the 1990s as a more adult pop-rock outfit than the outrageous yet influential 80s band that helped define the sound of "techno-pop".
Three major trends defined the Argentine rock of the end of the 1980s. The first trend was the consolidation of the Argentine Invasion bands into somewhat more mature rock groups. Some began to experiment with world music in the last two years of the 80s decade. For example, Charly García
got together with his old Seru Giran
partner Pedro Aznar
and recorded "Tango", whose name accurately suggests the style of the album. Before Federico Moura's death, Virus had also began turning to Brazilian music for their album Superficies de Placer. In general the mood of the music got darker echoing a deteriorated economic climate.
A second was the rise of "Tropical" rock, and the explosion of local Reggae
bands in Argentina seemingly out of nowhere in 1987. While Argentine rock was triumphant internationally, Argentina was caught in a reggae-mania: in the summer of that year arose Los Pericos
, Los Cafres, La Zimbabwe, and Jafran, among many other smaller outfits. But it was a fad, and only Los Pericos would sustain and grow their careers once the fancy faded (Los Cafres would be mildly successful starting in 1994).
A band that was not a fad was Los Auténticos Decadentes
, who would become a hugely popular ska-Latin pop and ballad group. They along with Los Pericos
and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
would be leaders in the tropical rock scene of ska
, reggae
and latin music.
The third trend came about partly as a result of the first: many rock fans did not approve of the commercialism and experimentation of the A-bands, and increasingly looked underground for a more confrontational guitar-led rock. Among them: Todos Tus Muertos
, Don Cornelio y La Zona (later Los Visitantes), Los Brujos
, Babasónicos
, Los Siete Delfines, Massacre Palestina. All of them would be part of the "Nuevo Rock" ("New Rock") explosion of the early 1990s.
In heavy metal, the already mentioned Rata Blanca
dominated popular tastes, specially in other Latin American countries, along with Hermética
, JAF, and Horcas
(the last two more domestic), in a very healthy scene for a style that never was overwhelmingly crowded in Argentine rock. A important band in the metal underground was Nepal
, one of the pioneering bands of thrash metal
. Formed in 1984, they were part of the first generation of worldwide thrashers, and gained prominence as the decade ended and musical tastes turned approbatory for more extreme metal. The genre got many magazines committed solely to it and distributed nationwide: Madhouse, Metal, Riff Raff, Revista Epopeya, etc.
The end of the 1980s were also a period of continued growth for Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
, on their way to becoming one of the most mythic cult bands of broad popularity in the history of rock, anywhere. It was also the time when Los Ratones Paranoicos
were gaining followers with the burgeoning "rolingas" (followers of a sub-genre of Argentine rock that is greatly indebted to the Rolling Stones). On the pop side Man Ray
with their taylor made FM songs were ubiquitous. Finally, Divididos
and their guitar-crunching melodic noise was more and more becoming a preview of what the next decade would bring. In general, as the fantastic '80s for Argentine rock closed, the music was in period of transition and exploration at all levels.
's frontman Gustavo Cerati
could foresee where the tide was heading and put his own band in front of it. After releasing the increasingly hard rocking Doble Vida
, the band headed to studio with new producer Daniel Melero to record their fourth major album, Canción Animal
. It was released in October 1990, about a year before Nirvana
released Nevermind
.
Canción Animal confirmed that it was OK to return Argentine rock to an 'in your face', edgy attitude that shaped the Argentine Invasion aesthetic in the early years of the 1980s, but this time with electric guitars as the stars. From that album, the single "De Música Ligera", might well be the most recognizable Spanish-language rock single of all time, and also one of the most covered by bands all over Latin America and elsewhere. Canción Animal helped underground acts like Los Brujos
, Peligrosos Gorriones, and Massacre break faster into the mainstream, by taking guitar-crunching rock to the apex as 1991 began. Even pop-bound groups like Los Enanitos Verdes
rocked harder in their early '90s works, particularly in their Big Bang album, whose single "Lamento Boliviano" is now a classic.
These and other bands in their wake would be dubbed the "Nuevo Rock Argentino", or New Argentine Rock. A term that not long after would also be used as an umbrella to group bands with a hard-to-pin-down style, like the neo-surf pop of Super Ratones (from Mar del Plata), and neo-fusionists La Portuaria
with their world music touches. "Nuevo Rock" would be the dominant form of rock in Argentina until the middle of the decade when it lost ground to so-called "rock suburbano".
In 1992, Soda Stereo
presented Dynamo, their fifth album, arguably the most conceptual (the other being "Signos"), and the most experimental to that point. It apparently took fans by surprise, and was the lowest seller of the group's works (it didn't help that in the middle of all this the band changed labels; Sony wouldn’t promote a band that was leaving, and BMG wouldn't promote another label's album).
On the other hand Babasónicos
had in 1992 their first major breakthrough of their careers with the hit D-generación from their 1992 album Pasto
, which would herald future international success for a band that would define the sound of "sonic" rock. Juana La Loca was another band in the so-called sonic scene that started in the early '90s and would breakthrough a few years later. Los Brujos
would have a great year 1992; the single "Kanishka" was an instant chart-topper. Los Visitantes equaled the success of Los Brujos the next year with their album Salud Universal, an offbeat mix of guitar rock and tango
tinges. Todos Tus Muertos
was a punk response to the Argentine rock being made in the late 1980s, consciously choosing to be far more direct and explicit in their musical (and political) statements. The band gained rapid acclaim with the rise of New Rock, and were one of the favorite bands of the period. Slowly the group would evolve from their early punk to a more diverse style that include afro-Latin rhythms.
The odd-group out that appeared in the early '90s was the outrageously named Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
(a reference to Colombian footballer Carlos Valderrama). More rappers than rockers, the group nonetheless made a mark in the rock scene as time progressed and they were able to more successfully integrate rap with Argentine rock, and also Latin rhythms. One of the members, Dante
, is the son of Luis Alberto Spinetta
.
, thus their style being dubbed "rock suburbano", or "suburban" rock (which goes under other terms including "rock chabón", "rock barrial" and "rock fierita").
Undoubtedly the early influences of the genre can be said to be Sumo
(aesthetically), and Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
. After Luca Prodan
's death, Sumo's remaining members went on to either form Divididos
or Las Pelotas. The former group's third album, La Era de la Boludez ("The Age of Dumbness"), was a commentary on modern Argentine society and made the band the more commercially fruitful of the two. On the other hand Las Pelotas were not necessarily seeking commercialism, which earned them street-cred in the underground. All of these bands and their incessant tours around the suburbs of Buenos Aires
and other cities would reap benefits not only for themselves but for other suburban groups that would follow soon after.
Some of the suburban acts owed so much to the sound of the Rolling Stones, that their followers came to be known as "rolingas". Eventually rolinga became a style: cheesy 1970s sneakers, tight t-shirts with the logo of the Stones or a local 'stone' band, and a disdain for other Argentine rock sub-genres they consider part of the establishment. At the forefront of this movement were Los Ratones Paranoicos
, whom for years before were perfecting a musical formula that would be emulated by countless neighborhood bands in years to come. They were joined in the Rolinga scene by Viejas Locas in the mid '90s.
The rise of the suburban style of rootsy-rock was a catalyst to bring the until then obscure bands of Argentine blues to the light. Memphis La Blusera
are the undisputed fathers of the genre, performing and recording together since the late 1970s. Their appeal as well as that of newcomers La Mississippi increased dramatically in the 1990s as musical tastes now allowed a broader public to appreciate their work. Both bands are considered the indubitable leaders of the blues in Argentina.
and Pappo
's Blues in the 1970s, V8
, Riff
, and several underground metal acts in the 80s. But they had never been at the forefront of Argentine rock, seemingly always obscured by other genres whether it was acoustic, symphonic, progressive, or the 80s invasion bands. This changed in the 1990s.
As the decade started Rata Blanca
, Horcas
, Hermética
and J.A.F had very respectable careers. Rata Blanca was internationally approved: in fact, it is plausible to state that their classic metal sound was more popular outside Argentina than within. Internationally popular to a lesser extent was Hermética, the archrivals of Rata Blanca (both formed in 87 when V8
disbanded), but there were no doubts of their massive following at home. Horcas and J.A.F stayed mostly successful in the local medium, though nonetheless had some overseas exposure.
The major development in Argentine metal of the 1990s was the rise of A.N.I.M.A.L.
. The acronym translated literally stands for "Abused (accosted), Our Indians Died While Fighting". And their themes lived up to that title: the band would be one of the most outspoken advocates for indigenous people and even nationalism, while also (as such bands tend to do), blasting against the current world order. Their sound is equal parts hardcore
, heavy metal
, and thrash
. Another important band formed in 1990 was Tren Loco, whom long after went to Japan and won second place in a major battle-of-the-band event at famous Budokan
Stadium in Tokyo. The metal underground also flourished in the 1990s, with bands like Alakrán, Jezabel, Jason, Logos, and Jeriko, among others.
and Luis Alberto Spinetta
. Garcia enjoyed a prolific 1980s with many of his albums turning into classics. Spinetta had a more uneven worksheet but nonetheless was successful. Pappo
continued spitting out blues and heavy rock records, Miguel Mateos
remained a popular rock figure in Latin America and Spain even as he dropped almost off the radar in Argentina. León Gieco
's unique "folk-rock meets world music" approaches made him an internationally acclaimed musician.
Fito Páez
's pop career continued to take-off in the early 1990s. In 1992 he released El Amor después del Amor, becoming the best selling Argentine rock album. The title "love after love" was not by chance: he had just ended a well-publicized relationship with female rocker Fabiana Cantilo
(herself an important '90s singer in the movement), and was getting involved with movie actress Cecilia Roth
. With the album Paez was confirmed an international pop star. Meanwhile, Andrés Calamaro
had enjoyed some popularity since his solo career begun, but never managed a complete breakthrough with the public. He left for Spain, and there met two local musicians forming Los Rodriguez
in 1991. Two years later the hit single "Sin Documentos" finally gave Calamaro an international hit, and the band gained overnight vogue in Spain and Latin America.
Tropical, Fusion, and Latin influenced rock continued its ascent. 1992 was the year of "La Pachanga": Rosario's Vilma Palma e Vampiros single was an across the board mega hit in the Spanish-speaking world; there was no way of escaping it unless one did not have any kind of social life in the early '90s.
Bands like Los Auténticos Decadentes
, who had a major hit in 1990 with "Loco (tu forma de ser)", and Los Pericos
mirrored the tendency of increased popularity for the sub-genre. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
had a slump in the early '90s after harvesting great accolades in the late 1980s, but came back with a roar in 1994 with Vasos Vacios; the compilation that featured "Matador". The single would turn into a global superhit, winning MTV's best video of the year. The early '90s were also the formative years of a group that would have an impact towards the new millennium: Bersuit Vergarabat
. La Mosca would begin tapping into the tropical and Latin trend by 1995.
Argentine punk
-revival took off in the 1990s. Los Violadores
had ruled '80s punk; them along with the foreign punk bands of yesteryear would inspire the members of Attaque 77
and Flema
. Formed in 1986 and 1987 respectively, they were pioneers of the worldwide punk revival movement. Attaque 77's breakthrough came in 1990 with the single "Hacelo por Mi"; Flema
never broke to the mainstream but were heroic figures of the punk underground. Both groups paved the way for dozens of followers. One of those were 2 Minutos
, with their pure-energy, extreme, back-to-basics punk rock. Another darling of the scene were Todos Tus Muertos
, perhaps one of few bands in any punk movement that was accepted for their various rock styles besides punk. Fun People
took punk's liberal philosophy to another level by tackling the punk-scene itself: many of their lyrics criticized the macho attitudes in the movement which they saw contradictory to the spirit of punk. They were also the first band that sang in Spanglish
, meanwhile another bands, like Drop Dead! Argentina used to do it only in English. The She Devils
were the leaders of the local queercore scene. Cienfuegos
, a punk band that had existed since the 80s but suffered various contingencies, finally would produce albums by the mid 90s.
See: Argentine punk
By 1995 "nuevo rock argentino" or Argentine new rock had lost steam. For starters, bands like Los Siete Delfines and Peligrosos Gorriones, with their more artistic antics, fell out of favor. At the same time, groups like Massacre and La Portuaria
went into recording hiatuses and would not return until more favorable winds in the early to mid 2000s. Los Brujos
disbanded in 1998 after eight years of solid productions, but it left a large void in the movement. One of the last hurrahs of new rock were rap-rockers Actitud Maria Marta, which had a year of fame in 1995. Babasónicos
, Todos Tus Muertos
, and Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
were some of the new rock bands that were able to maintain their level as the year 2000 approached.
Also, 1995 would see the last album by Soda Stereo
, their relaxed almost chillout-like Sueño Stereo
, an album at times more electronic than rock preluding where Gustavo Cerati
's solo career would depart. Soda Stereo would go on a last grand tour through the United States and Latin America, selling out entire stadiums as they went. Their last concert in Buenos Aires
in 1997 was released as a double-album
, and over 70,000 people twice over packed River Plate
Stadium. The arguably greatest band in Argentine and Rock en Español history wrapped up the concert and their career with the live version of "De Musica Ligera";, Gustavo Cerati, the vocalist, guitarist and leader of the band, would end the song thanking his public, and would finish this gratitude by saying "... Gracias totales" (total thanks), this would become an icon of the Argentine rock.
Conversely, "suburban"; rock was on the up. On the one hand were the 1980s bands that by the mid '90s approached the suburban rock sound: Redonditos de Ricota
, Divididos
, Las Pelotas. They were joined by two bands that would define suburban in the late '90s as well: Los Piojos
and La Renga
. La Renga is also considered one of the Rolinga groups (followers of the Rolling Stones blueprint) like Los Ratones Paranoicos
and Viejas Locas, whose weighty followings would only grow larger.
Argentine youth began to musically and socially gravitate to either the suburban rock groups or towards the underground. And even within these two major groupings there were subdivisions (rolinga and post-chabón in suburban rock; sonico, punk, dark in the underground). Then there were the heavy metal followers, the large and getting larger indie scene, and the tropical rock followers, genre increasingly intermixed with the fledgling Cumbia
and cumbia villera
movement which would explode in the new millennium. The pieces were in place for the current period of rock in Argentina.
On a completely different, and original level, Andrea Prodan
(Luca Prodan's brother) emerged with a bizarre and unique all-vocal, solo album called Viva Voce, recorded on independent label Silly Records. The record won an A.C.E. award and was amidst Peter Gabriel's favourite records in his Real World list of 1996.
, La Renga
, Divididos
, Redonditos de Ricota
, Las Pelotas, Los Ratones Paranoicos
, La Mancha de Rolando, Caballeros de la Quema, and many more suburban rock bands. They were joined by Uruguayans No te va a gustar and La Vela Puerca
in the style, giving rise to the term "rioplatense" rock (rock of the Río de la Plata
region), to group all of the similarly inclined outfits. Suburban rock has created many fine singles and albums, but critics argue many of the bands (specially second rate groups in the rolinga scene), simply repeated the same formula to sell albums. Another feature of suburban rock is that it tends to shun overseas success: whether this is a conscious attitude or a simple limitation of the genre is an ongoing debate.
On the other hand the likes of Divididos, Los Piojos, and Redonditos have transcended its constraints and become influential in Argentine rock and popular on an international level. The better bands in the genre also feature an unusual versatility with non-rock styles like tango
, folk
, African music, Latin, jazz
, and even North American country music
, each with their own eclectic mixture. It would help elevate them from the legions of imitators in the crowded suburban scene. Divididos 6th album "Narigon Del Siglo" (2000) was one of the first great Argentine rock albums of the new decade; it was peppered with folk.
The underground was more under than usual in the late '90s, it was nonetheless extremely creative. A style that gained some mainstream exposure was "rock sónico" ("sonic" rock), influenced by the 80s "techno-pop" of Virus
and early Soda Stereo
(and also britpop
), through Babasónicos
and Juana La Loca. The latter group found success with sonic rock in 1997's Vida Modelo. The former would increase their popularity with each new album, arriving at 2001's Jessico, which received international acclaim as one of the first truly outstanding albums of the new millennium. Other underground groups started making noise at this time: El Otro Yo
, Catupecu Machu
, and Santos Inocentes
, leaders-to-be of the early 2000s alternative rock
scene in Argentina. Super Ratones's returned to the alternative charts with 2001's Grammy nominee Mancha Registrada.
In heavy metal, Hermética
disbanded by 1995 giving rise to Almafuerte
. With a more up-to-date sound, they were one of the late 1990s favorites along with A.N.I.M.A.L.
. Rata Blanca
continued to perform and record intermittently touring countries around Latin America. Classic metalists O'Connor
in the underground would emerge by the early 2000s, along with exponents of nu-metal Cabezones
and Carajo
. One of the most critically acclaimed bands of present is Los Natas
. Originally a stoner rock
group, in subsequent albums the band has turned more experimental. Some have called this demiurgic style (infused with Argentine folk, psychedelia, and space rock) "Patagonian doom", and this brand of metal has been ranked with the best heard in the new millennium. The band itself prefers to call it "free" rock.
In punk, Attaque 77
still went strong, Fun People
did as well (including a European tour), until their disbanding in 2000. The punk underground of the late 90s was buzzing with new bands (Cadena Perpetua, Expulsados), many of them to guide the early 2000s melodic punk scene (Smitten, Shaila
).
In tropical or fusion rock, Bersuit Vergarabat
rose to the zenith of the genre. Libertinaje (1998) catapulted the band to the top, and to tours of the Americas and Europe. The follow-up Hijos del Culo (2000) also went double-platinum. Both albums display a dizzying range in style versatility. From the side of reggae
-rock Los Pericos
and Los Cafres dominated. Ska had Los Calzones and Kapanga, but by 2000 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
had called it quits to their internationally renowned career of rock with ska, rap, reggae, and Latin. La Mosca and Dancing Mood reached achieved greater popularity. Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
produced some catchy, original, and danceable music (a mix of rock, hip-hop, and Latin) which cemented their fan base all over the Americas, until the duo's separation in 2001.
A highly talented and promising band was Karamelo Santo
, another contribution of the city of Mendoza
(also home of Los Enanitos Verdes
). They featured a very refreshing mix of rock, punk, ska, afro-Uruguayan, and cumbia rhythms that earned them critical praise in Argentina. They would spend most of the 2001–2004 period on extensive tours of Europe and the Americas. Todos Tus Muertos
would break up at the height of their popularity in 1999. Fidel Nadal kicked-off his hardcore Rastafarian career and veered towards cumbia villera
.
By the year 2000 the cumbia villera
, the preferred musical style among urban lower classes, had grown dramatically in following and in fact rivaled rock in overall popularity. Its lyrics can parallel those of U.S. rap (poverty, drugs and crime). The genre would increasingly crossover to tropical or fusion rock (as seen in Fidel Nadal, Bersuit, and Karamelo Santo), as well as with several suburban bands that were esteemed by fans of both cumbia villera and rock. Some even talked about a takeover during the height of the villera boom in 2001–2002. The reality is that villera did not take over rock. But it did arrive to stay as yet another fertile popular style of music in modern day Argentina, just as hip-hop created its place in the United States. But neither managed to sink rock, nor was it their intention to do so.
To a lesser extent dance and electronica
music, which in Argentina have the largest scenes in Latin America, also influenced Argentine rock of the 2000s. A good example of this is the internationally prominent techno-pop act Miranda!
, a band that owes as much to current dance and electronica
as the '80s techno-pop of Virus
and Los Encargados, electronic pioneers in Argentina.
At the end of 00s, a new band from Patagonia, called Otherness are hitting the American and British music scene.
There are several current bands that are broadly tagged under suburban but are not easy to categorize: Arbol
is arguably the most talented of them: their albums can go from hardcore to balladry, and from hard rock to folk and reggae. Los Tipitos and Villanos
present a more melodic style of suburban. Los Tipitos show a tendency to mature pop-rock; Villanos
's sound is cheery and shows more buoyancy, and at times slides towards the sound of Argentine "sonic" rock with a dash of punk. And Intoxicados has been burning the rock charts throughout 2006, their latest effort Otro Dia en en Planeta Tierra (2005) digging hit after charting hit. A diverse album stylistically with lyrics whose content seem not to match the music, it features the suburban blueprint sound but it is used more as a foundation than a showcase. One could also include Smitten. Romapagana, a Punk-inspired band, now commands great respect in certain circles. Formed by Luca Prodan's younger brother, Andrea, it points to a new urban sound with guerrilla-like intensity.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
bands or artists, in the Spanish language. For nearly half a century it has been a major popular genre, and it is considered part of the popular music tradition of Argentina alongside Argentine Tango, and Argentine folk music.
The moment when Argentine rock began as a distinct musical style can be traced to the middle 1960s, when several garage groups and aspiring musicians began composing songs and lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
that related to local social and musical themes. Rock & Roll itself, however, began in Argentina almost a decade before. During that time until the rise of Argentine rock, local groups recycled the hits of English-language rock & roll. Since then, Argentine rock started a continued and uninterrupted evolution through the 1970s and into the 1980s, when it turned into an international genre. Today it is widely considered the most prolific and successful form of Rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
, and one of the most important non-English language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
forms of rock music in the world.
In Argentina it is known as "Rock Nacional" (/rok.nasjo'nal/), literally National Rock (not in a political way at all but as a local movement).
A distinct trait of Argentine rock is its uncompromising stance to sing rock only in the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Rock music is made in many languages around the world, but in most cases it shares the lyrical creative pen with English. The Argentine rock movement was one of the first non-English forms of rock to be commercially successful outside its own nation. To this day it is rare for an Argentine rock band to sing in a language other than Spanish as it happens in other nations and languages, and even within Latin America and Spain (except to convey a sense of artistic free license, or in an attempt to isolate their message or aesthetic). Argentine rock today is a broad term describing a number of rock styles and sub-cultures within Argentina.
1958−1964: Early Rock & Roll in Argentina
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
base, gaining international popularity in the 1950s with artists like Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Bill Haley
Bill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
(who visited Argentina in 1958), awakening the interest of several Argentine artists with ideas to replicate their sounds.
Argentine garage bands sprung up in the wake of the early days of rock and roll. Most notable among them was Sandro y Los de Fuego, whom recorded a very decent series of Spanish language covers of rock and roll hits from that time, and attained commercial popularity. Sandro would soon embark on his own contemporary pop standards career that would make him popular internationally.
1964−1975: The classic period
The first few years of rock music in Argentina were confined to cover bands. In 1964, as most of the world, Argentina was shaken by The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
phenomenon.
There was a development unique to Argentina which may help to explain, in retrospect, why the country would become a very important rock producing nation.
The historians call a parallel development curve with the United States in certain aspects of culture. Both countries were the destination for millions of Europeans, and their musical heritage were heavily influenced by Pan-European folk and traditional marches. These similar musical infusions yielded related results in both: a grass-roots rural guitar-based musical tradition, becoming Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and Country in the US, in Argentina Folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and Pampas music. Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
is an important pillar of Rock & Roll. In Argentina folklore (at that time Nueva canción
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music...
was sweeping Argentina), was increasingly crossing over to popular musical trends by the late 1950s.
Late '60s Música Beat
Palito Ortega
Ramón Bautista Ortega Argentine singer and actor, better known as Palito Ortega. Ortega reached international fame, particularly in Latin America and Spain, during the 1960s, when Rock and Roll music was popularized among teenagers in the region.- Youth :Ortega was born to a very poor family in...
, Violeta Rivas, Chico Navarro, and Lalo Fransen, were introducing Sunny Pop, which owed equal amounts to merseybeat and to Argentine romantic pop.
But it was in the underground where the most fundamental figures of early Argentine rock would emerge. In former Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bars like "La Cueva" or "La Perla del Once", bohemian elements like Moris, Pajarito Zaguri, Javier Martinez - drummer and lead singer in the most known Argentinian blues band: Manal, Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Angel Peralta, known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.-Early days:...
, and Tanguito
Tanguito
José Alberto Iglesias , better known as Tango or Tanguito, was an Argentine rock composer and singer...
would gather in the lazy days of mid-60s Argentina to exchange ideas. Los Beatnicks
Los Beatnicks
Los Beatniks were an early Argentine rock garage group. Active in the middle years of the 1960s, they went down in trivia history as recording the first original rock single in Argentina titled "Rebelde". The band featured three key figures of the early rock movement in Argentina: Moris and...
, of which Moris and Martinez where members, began the transition that would slowly take Argentine rock from imitator to a more creative state (while still following UK trends mainly). Forming in quiet beaches of Villa Gesell
Villa Gesell
Villa Gesell is a seaside village in Villa Gesell Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded in 1931, afforestating a dune field. The growth of the city allowed it to annex the nearby cities of Mar de las Pampas, Las Gaviotas and Mar Azul....
, they recorded the first Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
single in 1966 called "Rebelde".
The definitive breakthrough of Spanish-language, original material rock would be up to the band Los Gatos
Los Gatos (band)
Los Gatos were an Argentine rock group of the late 1960s, members of the founding trilogy of Spanish-language rock in Argentina.- History:The group got their start in 1967...
. After playing in "La Cueva" for a few months (and members of the band being arrested on a regular basis by police, for political reasons), the band released two singles in 1967. "La Balsa", a sunny track vaguely reminiscent of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, was composed by Tanguito and sold 200,000 copies. The following year saw the first publicatio of Pinap, a rock magazine, and the founding of the first Argentine rock label, Mandioca. In 1969, four major concerts of so-called "música beat" ("beat music
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
") were held: the June Sunday concerts, Festival Nacional de Música Beat, Festival Pinap and Festival de Música Joven.
In the wake of Los Gatos, an explosion of bands emerged including Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
's Almendra, the most influential band of the late '60s, and Manal
Manal
Manal was an early Argentine rock group. Together with Almendra and Los Gatos, they are considered founders of Argentine rock. Portal Oficial del Gobierno de la República Argentina. The band members were Claudio Gabis on guitar, Javier Martínez on drums and vocals, and Alejandro Medina on bass and...
, the first successful blues-oriented group in Spanish. The three are considered the founding trilogy of the Argentine rock movement. None of these groups would have an extended history, in fact most disbanded by the early '70s. The early Argentine rock scene was characterized by a lot of line-up changes in bands, and even member swapping between bands, or members of different bands meeting and forming new groups. However, the shuffles provided for a lot of experimentation and creativity.
Almendra would split with Spinetta forming Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso was a band or musical enterprise of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta from 1971 to 1973. In spite of its short life, it is still considered an important piece of Argentine rock history.-Discography:...
, and the remaining members forming Color Humano
Color Humano
- Synopsis :The dissolution of Almendra yielded three new outfits, one of them being Color Humano. This power trio was a solid rock group, which would in 1972 release their debut album Color Humano, following the Argentine rock etiquette of naming the first studio release after the band.The record...
and Aquelarre
Aquelarre
----After the dissolution of Almendra in 1970, Emilio del Güercio and Rodolfo García joined with Héctor Starc and Hugo González Neira to form Aquelarre. The official debut of the band was in 1972 , and they recorded their first album later that year...
. By 1970, Vox Dei
Vox Dei
Vox Dei is an Argentine rock band credited for recording the country's first concept album, The Bible. Its most prolific years were the 1970s, having recorded 10 albums.-History:...
and their unique mixture of hard nosed rock with subtle melodious undertones refreshed the movement. Their album "La Biblia" (The Bible) is one of the seminal works of the early '70s, even getting an unusual stamp of approval by the Catholic Church. In that same year, the first B.A (Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
) Rock festival would be the first showcase of a rising sub-genre that would dominate the first half of 1970s Argentine rock. A new group of musicians was to bring new ideas to the mixing bowl of early Argentine rock.
That the original creators of the movement were now passing the torch to another batch of bands and musicians was a historically enormous development: it would set Argentine rock apart. While in other countries the original wave in the wake of the US or British rock invasions never sustained itself completely and quieted down, in Argentina not only did it continue, it evolved into its own realm and style more independent from rock music of the United States or Britain. From 1965, Argentine rock, with a solid line of ascent and evolution, became the most important rock movement in the Spanish-speaking world.
Acoustic and heavy rock
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
era. Among them, Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso was a band or musical enterprise of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta from 1971 to 1973. In spite of its short life, it is still considered an important piece of Argentine rock history.-Discography:...
, Vox Dei
Vox Dei
Vox Dei is an Argentine rock band credited for recording the country's first concept album, The Bible. Its most prolific years were the 1970s, having recorded 10 albums.-History:...
, and Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock. But out of all of the heavy rock bands, Pappo's Blues would become the most influential heavy metal band and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
artist of its era in Argentina, and also acclaimed overseas (even playing with B.B. King in New York City). Another important but overlooked heavy rock act of the period is El Reloj, but they would drift towards progressive in the following years.
Conversely, the first B.A Rock festival (now promoted by Pinap magazine successor Revista Pelo), had many of the artists and bands that would lead the Acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
rock movement: Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
forming Arco Iris
Arco Iris
Arco Iris were a rock group from the late 1960s until the late 1970s in Argentina, and one of the most influential in Argentine rock history in more ways than just music...
, León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
's rock-folk hybrid, Sui Generis
Sui Generis
Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...
and the start of Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
's music career, Raul Porchetto
Raul Porchetto
Raul Porchetto is an Argentine musician and song writer.- History :Porchetto emerged into the Acoustic movement of argentine rock during the early 1970s releasing his debut record in 1972 following the sub-genre's popular rise in the wake of the Acusticazo.By the mid 70s he would become a member...
, and Pedro y Pablo, among other bands. These groups not only turned to Argentine folk for inspiration, they began experimenting with South American musical styles as well; their lyrics becoming increasingly poetic with concerns about nature and the human condition.
The proliferation of these bands and their increasing popularity, the early '70s being the height of the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movement in Argentina, led to the Acusticazo of 1972. Several acoustic rock bands would gain popularity from their performances there, including Vivencia
Vivencia
Vivencia were an acoustic rock band who gained popularity in the wake of the Acusticazo that sent Argentine acoustic rock to the top of the movement in 1972....
, Pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
, and Alma y Vida
Alma y Vida
Alma y Vida were an important musical group in Argentina during the first half of the 1970s. Composed of jazz musicians that turned to rock music in the late 60s , while other future members were regular visitors at the historic "La Cueva" club, Alma y Vida were pioneers in Argentina of jazz-rock...
. The behemothic success of the Acusticazo was a turning point, Argentine rock would enter a new era of increased greater appeal.
In that year also, Tanguito
Tanguito
José Alberto Iglesias , better known as Tango or Tanguito, was an Argentine rock composer and singer...
was killed when he was hit by a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
. Conspiracies about his death abound, including that he committed suicide and even that he was thrown on to the tracks by police. A man dealing with heavy drug usage, others contend he simply might have tripped. The 1993 motion picture Tango Feroz ("Wild Tango"), would tell the life of Tanguito to new generations and the movie was an international hit.
As the 1970s progressed, acoustic rock continued as the most popular style in the country, with the above mentioned and other bands dominating the charts and musical tastes. And for the first time in its history, Argentine rock began spreading overseas: Sui Generis and Pastoral attained some popularity with counter-culture hippies in Latin America, and even Japan (Pastoral had an EP edited there). But a major shift was at hand.
Sui Generis farewell concerts
Sui Generis
Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...
began shifting from their classic acoustic rock to a more electric and visceral sound. Also, stirring in the Argentine underground were new bands with a radically different sound from either acoustic or heavy rock: influenced by some of acoustic rock's more experimental works (such as Arco Iris and their phenomenal Agitor Lucens V with its world music influences), by Tango music
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
and also by British progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. This would be the blueprint of Argentine progressive rock that would bloom into the apex of the movement in 1975. As that year began few could foresee what a watershed it would become not just in Argentine rock history, but the country's too.
Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
and Nito Mestre
Nito Mestre
Carlos Alberto Mestre known by his stage name Nito Mestre is an Argentine musician, founding member - along with Charly García - of Sui Generis, member of PorSuiGieco, bandleader of Nito Mestre y los Desconocidos de Siempre and a recording solo artist...
decided it was time to quit Sui Generis, almost as if they felt the winds of change. And so their final two concerts at the Luna Park
Luna Park, Buenos Aires
For any of the amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for any other use of the term, see Luna Park Luna Park is an 8,000-seat arena, located on the corner of Corrientes and Bouchard Avenues, in the barrio of San Nicolás, east Buenos Aires city and near Puerto Madero...
Arena took place on September 5 of that year, the most important acoustic rock band saying good-bye to 30,000 people. Historians have come to see the Sui Generis farewell concerts as the end of the 'Classic' Argentine rock era. Acoustic rock was passing into history: bands dissolved, changed their sound, and those that remained lost popularity and became only cult followings. Argentine progressive rock was on the rise, and so was the political repression to freedoms of expression.
Also, several bands would leave the country for greener pastures in Europe, mostly Spain, among them Moris and Aquelarre
Aquelarre
----After the dissolution of Almendra in 1970, Emilio del Güercio and Rodolfo García joined with Héctor Starc and Hugo González Neira to form Aquelarre. The official debut of the band was in 1972 , and they recorded their first album later that year...
. The dictatorship there was almost at an end, and Spanish rock was in its infancy with bands like Triana
Triana (band)
Triana was a Spanish progressive rock band from the 70's and early 80's, heavily influenced by flamenco, hailing from Andalusia. It was composed of Jesús de la Rosa Luque , Eduardo Rodríguez Rodway and Juan José Palacios "Tele" .-History:The main goal of the band was to...
, Tequila, and Asfalto. Interestingly, in Spain rock bands composed their songs in English. It was not until the arrival of Argentine bands with their Spanish language songs that local bands massively switched to singing in their own language, forever changing the development of rock music in Spain.
The Classic era of Argentine rock music was completely over by 1976. As this year began, Argentine rock became far more sophisticated, grandiose, and conceptual. A few acoustic bands would continue having moderate success, including Pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
, and Nito Mestre y Los Desconocidos de Siempre. But it was the beginning of the period of symphonic and progressive rock dominance.
Progressive Rock
As early as 1973, the band Contraluz combined rock with progressive and folk tinges. They would be an influential group in the years leading to the rise of symphonic and Argentine progressive rock. It would create some of the most enjoyable and brilliant albums in the history of the music, acclaimed nationally and by progressive rock fans worldwide.Espíritu, who formed in 1973 but had roots since 1969, would go on to be an internationally followed group in the latter part of symphonic rock's heyday. The first album Crisalida is cited as their best effort, with beautiful and alternating compositions and changing atmospheres (from mellow with acoustic guitar to up-tempo with heavy electric guitar), lush keyboards and some vocal harmonies.
Formerly heavies El Reloj turned to prog with 1975's self-titled album. Their sound has been pinned down as vaguely consonant with Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
's mystic and proggy sound.
A symphonic band that would have a great year in 1976 was ALAS
Alas (band)
-History:It was formed and led by Death metal pioneer Morbid Angel ex-guitarist Erik Rutan. They also featured well known Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster...
. Their music was even more intellectual and unorthodox. ALAS would feature artists such as Rodolfo Mederos
Rodolfo Mederos
Rodolfo Mederos is an Argentine bandoneonist, composer and arranger. He lived in Cuba and France; in Argentina, he founded the cult group Generación Cero.- Beginnings :...
and Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
. Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
would begin his third band Invisible later in that year. Their symphonic sound tinged with tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
would bring critical praise. A band that showed a lot of promise that never materialized was Reino de Munt. Formed by Raul Porchetto
Raul Porchetto
Raul Porchetto is an Argentine musician and song writer.- History :Porchetto emerged into the Acoustic movement of argentine rock during the early 1970s releasing his debut record in 1972 following the sub-genre's popular rise in the wake of the Acusticazo.By the mid 70s he would become a member...
, it featured a young Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Federico Lerner is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has written and sang countless songs including several hits, and his fame and recognition spread all over South America....
, and musicians like Gustavo Basterrica and Frank Ojsterseck.
Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
formed his first post-Sui Generis
Sui Generis
Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...
band, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros was a mid 1970s progressive and symphonic rock band from Argentina, with strong influences by Genesis, Yes, and Steely Dan. In their brief two-year lifespan, they didn't have enjoy much public acceptance...
, which began Garcia's dwellings in symphonic and progressive. Other symphonic and progressive bands of renown would be Torax, Ave Rock, Anacrusa, and Materia Gris.
Arco Iris
Arco Iris were a rock group from the late 1960s until the late 1970s in Argentina, and one of the most influential in Argentine rock history in more ways than just music...
meanwhile continued expanding on their symphonic-folk rock and were joined by veteran Chilean band Los Jaivas
Los Jaivas
Los Jaivas are a Chilean musical group who perform in folk, rock, and progressive rock styles.-History:Los Jaivas appeared in Chilean music in 1963 as a progressive-rock-andino group, mixing rock with South American ancestral music...
, whom were escaping the Pinochet dictatorship that had overtaken their nation in 1973. The two along with Contraluz were the main exponent of the sub-genre.
On March 24, 1976, the democratic government was toppled by a military coup. It opened one of the darkest political chapters in Argentina's history, full of repression, fear, and missing citizens. Argentine rock by no means would be immune to the military crackdown, and would suffer the worst censure period of its history. Rock was seen as subversive by the nation's authority figures, who began to clamp down on the music. In a 1976 speech, Admiral Emilio Massera denounced rock musicians and fans as potential subversives and repression of them began in 1977. Before the end of the decade, rock had gone increasingly underground.
In spite of this however, the music would continue its development against the odds. Along with the plethora of symphonic/progressive bands, heavies Vox Dei
Vox Dei
Vox Dei is an Argentine rock band credited for recording the country's first concept album, The Bible. Its most prolific years were the 1970s, having recorded 10 albums.-History:...
and Pappo's Blues continued to sustain their popularity during the period. Yet another heavy metal band, Plus, made their debut in '76 and enjoyed success through the end of the decade.
Symphonic Late 1970s
Argentine rock continued its symphonic, so-called 'music hall' sound through the end of the decade. The '78-'79 period was not the most prolific period for rock, as the progressive bands continued with their blueprint, and symphonic rock bands actually turned slightly commercial.At the height of symphonic rock, Crucis was joined at the top by the popularity of Espíritu; the two are generally seen as the most well-known outfits of the symphonic rock period. La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros was a mid 1970s progressive and symphonic rock band from Argentina, with strong influences by Genesis, Yes, and Steely Dan. In their brief two-year lifespan, they didn't have enjoy much public acceptance...
efforts were impressive as well, their first album featuring many of the elements of good prog: intricate ensemble work, good individual performances, great melodies, dynamic contrast, and interesting arrangements.
Pappo
-, 1968:-, 1969:# # # # # # # # # -Rock de la mujer perdida, 1970:...
's blues would see their near seven year run end. Aquelarre
Aquelarre
----After the dissolution of Almendra in 1970, Emilio del Güercio and Rodolfo García joined with Héctor Starc and Hugo González Neira to form Aquelarre. The official debut of the band was in 1972 , and they recorded their first album later that year...
would return from their Spain stint, but following a tour run went their separate ways.
But the year would show a glimpse at the future: a band from La Plata called Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
, with their comical costumes and nervy fast tempos, started performing. 1977 was a year of one-year wonders: Soluna (Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
's 2nd group), with their electric folk, and Orion's Beethoven, a progressive band that played since 1969 but had their moment of fame eight years later. Neither band sustained their popularity into 1978. Bubu with their album Anabelas was 1978's one-year wonder.
And even more bands ceased to be. After two successful albums that featured several would-be classics of the era, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros was a mid 1970s progressive and symphonic rock band from Argentina, with strong influences by Genesis, Yes, and Steely Dan. In their brief two-year lifespan, they didn't have enjoy much public acceptance...
hung up, as did Invisible, leaving as a legacy two of the greatest albums in Argentine rock's history: Invisible and Jardin de los Presentes. Pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
, one of last acoustic groups still successful, split by 1978, as did ALAS
Alas (band)
-History:It was formed and led by Death metal pioneer Morbid Angel ex-guitarist Erik Rutan. They also featured well known Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster...
. With the country gripped by World Cup mania (Argentina was host in 1978), and the Disco music craze, rock music suffered the worst drought since its inception. The media was openly calling out 'the death' of Argentine rock.
Throughout its history, Argentine rock had the strange fortune to get exactly what in needed at the right time, fuelling an even greater expansion in the music. Sandro y los del fuego in '63 with their Argentine rockabilly igniting inspiration; the Uruguayan Invasion
Uruguayan Invasion
The Uruguayan Invasion was a musical phenomenon of the 1960s similar to the British Invasion, with rock bands from Uruguay gaining popularity in Argentina.-History:...
of 1965 that proved the commercial viability of non-US or UK bands; the massive hit of "La Balsa" by Los Gatos in '67 showing Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
rock could be appealing to the masses; the Acusticazo of '72. In the drought days of 1978, what Argentine rock needed was its first successful 'superband'. It got it in Seru Giran
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
.
Serú Girán
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
's famous band Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso was a band or musical enterprise of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta from 1971 to 1973. In spite of its short life, it is still considered an important piece of Argentine rock history.-Discography:...
, to write songs in Brazil. There Charly re-encountered Oscar Moro
Oscar Moro
Oscar Moro was an Argentine rock drummer.Oscar Moro was born and raised in Rosario. Moro joined a childhood friend, Litto Nebbia, and three others in forming the pioneer Argentine rock and roll band Los Gatos, in 1966...
, the drummer of his former band "La Máquina De Hacer Pájaros" and they decided to invite him to help compose new material. The trio soon decided that instead of selling their songs like they had originally planned, they would play them themselves in a new band. Now all they needed was a bass player. Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
was a lesser known bassist who had once been a member of progressive rock group "ALAS". He also happened to be a friend of Moro's, who knew of Aznar's ability with the funk and jazz base. Moro brought Anzar into the group and they began to prepare themselves.
Charly, Moro, Lebón, and Aznar managed two major things with Serú Girán. The first was to create a sound that was truly distinctive from anything in English-language rock. The second was their ability to massively achieve popularity in the lower and upper classes with their style of rock. Serú Girán
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
could be 'brainy' yet unpretentious rockers simultaneously.
Partly because the group lived for three months in northeast Brazil, the band's first album shows clear influences of Brazilian music, mixed with symphonic rock and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. But the band's first live concert to support the album created one of the strangest anecdotes in Argentine rock: the fans did not understand the strange costumes the band used (entirely in white except for Garcia with a black jacket and shoes); and then when they played the song "Disco Shock", a satire poking fun at disco music (which was at its height in 1978), people thought they were really serious. Whistles and boos would follow and what should have been a great concert turned into a fiasco, with fans clamoring for Sui Generis
Sui Generis
Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...
songs. People failed to get the message and Serú Girán
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
did not get their point across too well either. It would all fuel wild speculations about the member's sexual orientations, a PR nightmare at the time.
But the group bounced back with a vengeance with their 2nd album La Grasa de las Capitales. It was well received by the specialized press, and would cement their status as the most popular band of their time. Serú Girán's third album Bicicleta (1980) was tepidly received at first, but in time would be considered the band's best work. Both albums departed from the symphonic rock of the first LP, the music turning more visceral and 'simple' with less arrangement and pomp. Serú Girán would not be isolated in this trend, as slowly Argentine rock was writing the final chapters in its symphonic and progressive period.
War and Winds of Change
The nation was still in the grip of a dictatorship as the 1980s dawned, even as repression had eased somewhat by then. The start of the decade continued to feature Seru GiranSeru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
, now with their less pretentious sound, at the top of the charts. Vox Dei
Vox Dei
Vox Dei is an Argentine rock band credited for recording the country's first concept album, The Bible. Its most prolific years were the 1970s, having recorded 10 albums.-History:...
entered their 3rd decade in rock, a virtual first for any local band, and León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
's popularity as a solo artist was on the rise.
One of the last progressive bands of importance would be Tantor
Tantor
Tantor is a generic name for elephants in Mangani, the fictional language of the great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs...
. They were less symphonic and far more prog-experimental, with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
as a major support. Their first eponymous album was a hit in the scene, and the band would continue till the mid 1980s as one of the last bands of the progressive era.
Seru Giran
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
went touring in Brazil in 1980, where their reception by fans at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
was so overwhelming that the organizers requested that they perform again, the next day, but on the main stage with jazz-rockers Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
. There, Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
met Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, and Aznar gave him some cassettes with his own works. Seru Giran returned home, edited "Bicicleta" and gathered 60,000 fans in La Rural
La Rural
La Exposición Rural , is an annual agricultural and livestock show held in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires, Argentina...
back in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
chanting no se banca más (it isn't bearable anymore, alluding to the dictatorship). That year they had also performed in concert with Spinetta Jade, Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
's latest project and the other popular rock group of the early 1980s. It was a great event in which both bands eventually played some songs of each other's repertoire.
Spinetta Jade was a blend of jazz and rock that escaped the trappings of symphonic rock, something that was unseen in Argentina at that time. Towards the last two albums, the sound became a little bit more "pop", and embedded with electronic elements (samplers and synthesizers with "artificial" textures).
Seru Giran released their fourth album Peperina in 1981 and promoted it on tour, but by the end of the year Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
decided to leave the band because he wanted to study at Berklee. (When he was there, by the end of 1982, he was called to join his loved Pat Metheny Group
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist and bandleader Pat Metheny, composer, keyboardist and pianist Lyle Mays , and bassist and producer Steve Rodby...
). Seru Giran (which at the time was even planning tours in Europe), had a strong sendoff on March 6–7, 1982, when they performed for the last time at the Arena Obras Sanitarias
Arena Obras Sanitarias
Arena Obras Sanitarias, also known as Estadio Obras Sanitarias is an indoor arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Built in 1978, it holds 3,030 people, and 4,700 for concerts....
. A memorable moment was the performance of the song "No llores por mi Argentina" ("Don't Cry for me Argentina", which has no relation to the Evita musical theme); a song full of symbolisms. It was not only a farewell for Aznar, and for Seru Giran, but for an era in Argentine music, and history. The timing was beyond befitting.
Argentina's economy was in full recession in 1982, and discontent with the military government was rampant. On April 2, the world would awake yet again in the 20th century to the horror of war. After a season of death and destruction in the South Atlantic in which both sides suffered sunken ships, aircraft blown from the sky, and hundreds of young lives cut short, the United Kingdom regained control over the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
(Islas Malvinas). The popularity of the Argentine military government hit then bottom, and democratic elections were called shortly after.
New Democracy Sound
The war would be a dark chapter in Argentine history, but would have the paradoxical effect of creating one of the most fortuitous circumstances in the history of any rock genre.In May of '82 the Festival for Latin American Solidarity brought together all the great bands of Argentine rock. It was a festival in support of the troops overseas, and also a veiled protest to war, and a call for peace (at first the musicians feared appearing for risk of being portrayed pro-war). This event was the final stepping stone of Argentine rock in becoming the dominant form of music in the country. At the same time, English-language rock was wiped out from radio play. The programmers had to fill the voids with something, and that was with Argentine rock. This created the opportunity of exposure to countless underground bands. It would set the foundations for the explosion of rock in the mid 1980s.
In the latter days of symphonic rock, a great number of new groups started popping
seemingly out of nowhere. In reality, these were bands influenced by post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
from the US and Britain, and by the more symphonic and less progressive side of Argentine rock. Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
, who had started in 1977, were growing a larger following on a monthly basis. In 1979 in La Plata, Federico Moura would form a new-wave pioneering band called Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
. In Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, three young men influenced by the advent of post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
in Britain started exchanging ideas, and decided to form a band with the name Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
.
Los Violadores
Los Violadores is a punk band from Argentina and the pioneers of the genre in Latin America.-History:Los Violadores was founded in 1981 by guitarist Hari B . The rest of the band included Stuka , Pil Trafa and Sergio Gramatika...
. Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Angel Peralta, known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.-Early days:...
, a founding figure of Argentine rock in the 60s, would return after a decade in Europe and form Los Abuelos de la Nada
Los Abuelos de la Nada
Los Abuelos de la Nada were an Argentine rock band that underwent several incarnations, all of them led by singer and songwriter Miguel Abuelo.-First Era:...
, which happened to feature a young man by the name of Andres Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro , is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain in the 1990s. He became one of the main icons of the Argentine rock in the last two decades and has sold over 1.3 million copies.-Abuelos de la Nada:Calamaro was...
. Someone named Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos is a rock singer/songwriter from Villa Pueyrredón, Argentina. Outside of Argentina, he is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Español, specially in the 1980s when he along with Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes, Virus, Sumo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rata...
, after talking to Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, won the opportunity to open for Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
in Buenos Aires with his new band ZAS
Zas
Zas is a municipality of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia.-ZAS Trademark:ZAS is the registered trademark of Zen Automotive Suppliers Pty Ltd, Australia. Registered trademark number 1308358.-External links:**...
. At the local pubs in Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...
a pop-rock act called Los Enanitos Verdes appeared. An Italian of Scottish background named Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan was a Scottish musician.He was the son of an Italian father and a Scottish mother, born in Rome after the return of the Prodan family from China, where Luca's father had set up a prosperous business becoming an expert in ancient Chinese pottery, because of the Japanese invasion...
arrived in Argentina to fight his heroin addiction, worsened by the death of his friend Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
of Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
. Prodan would form Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
. This band, one of the least conventional in Argentina at the time, and since, has been voted Best Argentine Band by a poll composed by Rock Journalists in 2009. Despite its 'underground' status, it has fervent followers in Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and a plethora of countries world-wide.
From the Festival of Latin American Solidarity emerged solo artists that would go on to delve into a more adult oriented form of rock and pop music, with the Argentine youngsters of the '60s now mature adults. Some of these names were Juan Carlos Baglietto
Juan Carlos Baglietto
Juan Carlos Baglietto is an Argentine musician and composer. He is one of the iconic figures of the musical movement called Trova Rosarina....
(who was optimistic about a young musician from Rosario named Fito Páez
Fito Páez
Rodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...
), Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Federico Lerner is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has written and sang countless songs including several hits, and his fame and recognition spread all over South America....
, and Celeste Carballo. In heavy metal, Pappo
Pappo
-, 1968:-, 1969:# # # # # # # # # -Rock de la mujer perdida, 1970:...
founded his new band Riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, and newcomers V8
V8 (band)
V8 was an Argentine heavy metal band created in 1979, one of the first notable Argentine bands of that genre. After its dissolution former members have continued their careers starting other heavy metal bands, Hermética, Horcas, Rata Blanca, Logos and Almafuerte.-Biography:In the beginning of the...
and La Torre
La Torre
La Torre is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 357 inhabitants....
would emerge. New "funny" rock bands like Los Twist
Los Twist
An Argentine rock group known for its campy and often satirical songs. Many of their songs have a 50s rockabilly sound, others have ska, rock and roll and twist.The members of Los Twist are:* Pipo Cipolatti * Daniel Melingo...
, Sueter, and girl-riot Viudas e Hijas de Roque Enroll crashed to the scene infusing Argentine rock with needed dosages of humor and self-deprecation. On the goth
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
side of rock, La Sobrecarga would carry the torch.
And for the first time in Argentine rock history there was a "revival" of an earlier style, with Acoustic rock making a comeback on the back of reunions by Almendra and Manal
Manal
Manal was an early Argentine rock group. Together with Almendra and Los Gatos, they are considered founders of Argentine rock. Portal Oficial del Gobierno de la República Argentina. The band members were Claudio Gabis on guitar, Javier Martínez on drums and vocals, and Alejandro Medina on bass and...
. On the other hand Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
and Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
embarked on their solo careers. Moris returned from his period in Spain.
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
as president of a fully democratic nation. Rock bands would no longer be harassed and even censored by the powers-that-be, and freedom of expression flowered. Songs critical of the military that were in prior years censored, some with exquisite lyrical poetry and allegory, were released during this time: "Tiempos Dificiles" by Fito Páez (sung by Juan Carlos Baglietto), "Maribel se Durmió" by Luis Alberto Spinetta, "Sólo le pido a Dios" by León Gieco and "Los dinosaurios" by Charly García. A more direct criticism of the military government that ended in 1983 came from the Argentine punk groups like Los Violadores (singing songs like "Represión") or seminal heavy metal bands like V8.
Finally, segments of Argentine rock moved away from the music hall and 'solemn' era, full of very heavy lyrics and concerns with domestic issues. It started to lighten up and turn more irreverent, and to focus on mundane concerns such as money, love, and sports. This would make the music and lyrics far more accessible (and commercial) to international audiences.
The stage was set for the boom of Argentine rock in Latin America and beyond.
Argentine Invasion
The Cafe Einstein was opened in 1982 by Omar ChabanOmar Chabán
Emir Omar Chabán is an Argentine impresario, who was imprisoned for a fatal fire in one of his businesses.Born in San Martín, Buenos Aires, Chabán became one of the major figures in the Buenos Aires underground scene during the 1980s as owner of Café Einstein and later Cemento, which became a...
(who would end up convicted for the fire in another club 22 years later, see "Fire at Cromagnon Nightclub"), featuring some of the first presentations of three underground bands: Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
, Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
, and Los Twist
Los Twist
An Argentine rock group known for its campy and often satirical songs. Many of their songs have a 50s rockabilly sound, others have ska, rock and roll and twist.The members of Los Twist are:* Pipo Cipolatti * Daniel Melingo...
. Both Sumo and Soda Stereo featured slightly different line-ups in their early days, with Sumo having an English girl, Stephanie Nuttal, at drums. She returned to England when war broke out between her country and Argentina. Also in '82 Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
released his full-album solo debut, the acclaimed Yendo de la Cama al Living.
"One could feel the winds of change" in 1983 Argentina. A cliché perhaps, but at no time more appropriately used. Everything was optimism about the future, the country, and music. Even technology cooperated with the palpable change: it was the year the compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
was introduced. And 1984 was the year of female rock: Patricia Sosa and her heavy rock band La Torre
La Torre
La Torre is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 357 inhabitants....
were voted best band of the year and "Solo quiero Rock and Roll" best single, a first for a female lead rock act. Another female vocal band, Los Twist
Los Twist
An Argentine rock group known for its campy and often satirical songs. Many of their songs have a 50s rockabilly sound, others have ska, rock and roll and twist.The members of Los Twist are:* Pipo Cipolatti * Daniel Melingo...
, and their superbly catchy tunes about nothing were also doing very well, but the group suffered a blow when Fabiana Cantilo
Fabiana Cantilo
Fabiana Cantilo is a singer and songwriter from Argentina. She has sold more than 5 million records in her career.- Soloist :* Detectives * Fabiana Cantilo y los Perros Calientes...
left.
As the early 1980s progressed it became clear that the new generation of rockers were not like anything before: Los Violadores
Los Violadores
Los Violadores is a punk band from Argentina and the pioneers of the genre in Latin America.-History:Los Violadores was founded in 1981 by guitarist Hari B . The rest of the band included Stuka , Pil Trafa and Sergio Gramatika...
pioneering punk
Argentine punk
-1976–1983: Military dictatorship years:1976 is the year in which punk music started to emerge in the United Kingdom with bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash. That same year a military dictatorship known as National Reorganization Process began in Argentina...
in Latin America; Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
oxygenating rock with their new-wave sound; Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
's punkish reggae-rock growing a fanatical cult (Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan was a Scottish musician.He was the son of an Italian father and a Scottish mother, born in Rome after the return of the Prodan family from China, where Luca's father had set up a prosperous business becoming an expert in ancient Chinese pottery, because of the Japanese invasion...
sung mostly in English, which reduced his band's radio exposure yet their fame expanded unabated); and Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
the buzz of the underground. ZAS
Zas
Zas is a municipality of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia.-ZAS Trademark:ZAS is the registered trademark of Zen Automotive Suppliers Pty Ltd, Australia. Registered trademark number 1308358.-External links:**...
introduced the phrase "rock en tu idioma" (rock in your language). Los Abuelos de la Nada
Los Abuelos de la Nada
Los Abuelos de la Nada were an Argentine rock band that underwent several incarnations, all of them led by singer and songwriter Miguel Abuelo.-First Era:...
and newcomers G.I.T. found quick success outside Argentina, a preview of things to come.
By 1985, year in which Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
formed, several bands began receiving consistent airplay across Latin America. Argentine rock began "climbing" the continent up the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
: first Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, then Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Zeta Bosio
Zeta Bosio
Héctor Pedro Juan Bosio Bertolotti better known by his stage name Zeta Bosio, is an Argentine rock musician, record producer and DJ, better known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the influential Argentine rock band Soda Stereo...
of Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
said of this: "We would leave Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and tour in Chile, Peru, etc, and in some places they had never heard a live rock concert before... they said that such music was for another world and wouldn’t work... now it's all joy seeing how it did work and that it now has its own legs..." Argentine rock bands were the first to be signed to multinational record labels for distribution across many nations.
The trickle became a flood as 1986 approached, and by the start of that year it had become a continental phenomenon, reaching Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and crossing the Atlantic to Spain, even as far Italy, France, and Germany. Los Enanitos Verdes
Los Enanitos Verdes
Enanitos Verdes is a successful rock trio from Argentina, formed in 1979 in the city of Mendoza...
with their energetic pop-rock that appealed through music lines gained previously unseen popularity across borders. The Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
, with their ska-rock with a heavy Latin infusion, turned instant rock stars across Latin America and eventually worldwide. Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca is a heavy metal band from Argentina formed in the 1980s.-Biography:The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires...
, a heavy metal band formed in 1987 from the ashes of influential early '80s rockers V8
V8 (band)
V8 was an Argentine heavy metal band created in 1979, one of the first notable Argentine bands of that genre. After its dissolution former members have continued their careers starting other heavy metal bands, Hermética, Horcas, Rata Blanca, Logos and Almafuerte.-Biography:In the beginning of the...
, also conquered the Spanish-speaking world. As did Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
, Fito Páez
Fito Páez
Rodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...
, and now solo artist Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos is a rock singer/songwriter from Villa Pueyrredón, Argentina. Outside of Argentina, he is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Español, specially in the 1980s when he along with Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes, Virus, Sumo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rata...
. 1986 was the climax of an unprecedented wave of international success for Argentine rock.
It would help to revitalize rock movements in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Spain for two reasons: 1) It would create a buzz and excitement in the local rock scenes; 2) it proved to producers and record labels in those countries that "Rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
" could work and make them money. In Mexico, Argentine bands were being marketed by media giants like Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
as "rock in your language". Its success changed the landscape of the Mexican scene: it laid the groundwork for Mexican rock
Mexican rock
Mexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as rock nacional , originated in the 1950s with covers of standards by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers, among others, bands such as Los Rebeldes del Rock, Los Locos del Ritmo, Los Crazy Boys, Los Nómadas, and Javier Bátiz soon arose...
in Spanish to itself expand overseas. In Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, the Argentine invasion was a catalyst that brought that country's own movement more to the mainstream. In Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, where a few outstanding bands existed even prior to the Argentine boom (see Los Prisioneros
Los Prisioneros
Los Prisioneros was a chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Santiago, Chile in 1982. They began as a local band during the early 1980s, playing small shows in their neighborhood and high school...
), the flood of rock music coming from their eastern neighbor would fully energize and inspire the local scene, and Argentine rock's influence continues to this day. The current boom in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n rock can be traced to the 1980s, with most Colombian rock acts citing the Argentine invasion groups as a direct influence. In countries like Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, the effects were even more profound.
As 1988 began, with the most important Argentine bands (Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
, Los Enanitos Verdes
Los Enanitos Verdes
Enanitos Verdes is a successful rock trio from Argentina, formed in 1979 in the city of Mendoza...
, Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca is a heavy metal band from Argentina formed in the 1980s.-Biography:The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires...
, Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
, Andres Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro , is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain in the 1990s. He became one of the main icons of the Argentine rock in the last two decades and has sold over 1.3 million copies.-Abuelos de la Nada:Calamaro was...
, Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos is a rock singer/songwriter from Villa Pueyrredón, Argentina. Outside of Argentina, he is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Español, specially in the 1980s when he along with Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes, Virus, Sumo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rata...
, Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
, Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
) on constant tour of Latin America, Europe, and even countries in Asia, the globalization of Argentine rock and pop was complete. By this time the invasion had begun to 'quiet' down in comparison to the prior three years, but its legacy of opening the doors of Argentine rock to massive success beyond its own borders remains to this day.
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
was arguably the most successful and influential rock band in Spanish ever. Even as a few other more recent rock acts have sold more albums (and thus are technically more 'successful'), the influence of Soda Stereo and its music, style, and even 'business acumen' is undeniable. They were also the first Spanish-language band to use all aspects of their popularity to the fullest: their music videos, aesthetic, philosophy, and more. In the beginning they were deeply influenced by new wave and bands such as The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, and Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, and by symphonic rockers Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
and Aquelarre
Aquelarre
----After the dissolution of Almendra in 1970, Emilio del Güercio and Rodolfo García joined with Héctor Starc and Hugo González Neira to form Aquelarre. The official debut of the band was in 1972 , and they recorded their first album later that year...
.
With their first album, the self-titled Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo (album)
Soda Stereo is the debut album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo and released in 1984. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.-Track listing:...
(1984), they reached national success with joyful and ironic lyrics, and a sound that combined pop, reggae, ska, and new wave, but were accused of being superficial and frivolous. The second album, Nada Personal
Nada Personal (album)
Nada personal is the second album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, and released in 1985...
, strengthened the popularity of the band, with instant classics such as "Nada Personal" and "Cuando Pase el Temblor" opening the doors of the Latin American market; 1986's "Signos
Signos
Signos is the third studio album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, and released in 1986. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.-Track listing:...
" would heavily increase their popularity and in 1988 they came up with what could arguably be called their masterpiece, their album "Doble Vida
Doble Vida
Doble Vida is the fourth album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo and was released in 1988. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.-Track listing:...
". The musical arrangements and the lyrics reached a subtlety never heard before from the band's production, the most notable example being the album's lead single "En La Ciudad De La Furia", a cryptically metaphorical ode to the band's hometown of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and the city's inhabitants. They embarked in an extensive tour through Latin America that brought the live album Ruido Blanco
Ruido Blanco
Ruido Blanco is a live album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, released in 1987 and recorded on their "Signos" Latinamerican tour. This album includes a unique track, "Vita-Set" consists of the two songs bonded by their initial chords...
.
With the tour supporting Signos, Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
became international superstars. The band would continue their worldwide success well into the 1990s, and evolving their musical sounds unlike almost any other Rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
band. In fact, they would lead the way in the changes Argentine rock would experience as the 1990s drew near.
Late '80s: Loss and Experimentation
The year 1987 ended in tragedy for Argentine rock. Luca ProdanLuca Prodan
Luca Prodan was a Scottish musician.He was the son of an Italian father and a Scottish mother, born in Rome after the return of the Prodan family from China, where Luca's father had set up a prosperous business becoming an expert in ancient Chinese pottery, because of the Japanese invasion...
had finally lost his internal war with alcohol and was found dead on December 22, due to complications from his addiction. His death was a shock to the entire music industry and to millions of heartbroken fans. Following Prodan's death, the members of Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
split, founding two new rock outfits: Divididos
Divididos
Divididos is an Argentine rock band.The band was formed in 1988 after the death of Luca Prodan and the consequent dissolution of the band Sumo...
and Las Pelotas; both bands became major players of 1990s rock.
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Angel Peralta, known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.-Early days:...
, following gallbladder surgery, was diagnosed with AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
; terminally ill, he died from cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
on March 26, 1988. Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
leader Federico Moura's persistent pneumonia fueled rumors of further complications, which ended in the revelation soon after by the singer that he was infected with AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Moura died on December 21, 1988. Moura's passing completed a dreadful trifecta of musicians who had still much to offer. It was a tough blow for rock. As a group, Virus survived and soldiered on into the 1990s as a more adult pop-rock outfit than the outrageous yet influential 80s band that helped define the sound of "techno-pop".
Three major trends defined the Argentine rock of the end of the 1980s. The first trend was the consolidation of the Argentine Invasion bands into somewhat more mature rock groups. Some began to experiment with world music in the last two years of the 80s decade. For example, Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
got together with his old Seru Giran
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
partner Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
and recorded "Tango", whose name accurately suggests the style of the album. Before Federico Moura's death, Virus had also began turning to Brazilian music for their album Superficies de Placer. In general the mood of the music got darker echoing a deteriorated economic climate.
A second was the rise of "Tropical" rock, and the explosion of local Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
bands in Argentina seemingly out of nowhere in 1987. While Argentine rock was triumphant internationally, Argentina was caught in a reggae-mania: in the summer of that year arose Los Pericos
Los Pericos
Los Pericos is an Argentine band formed in 1987. The band has enjoyed international success, especially throughout South America. In 2006, the band received some notable exposure for North American audiences when featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations...
, Los Cafres, La Zimbabwe, and Jafran, among many other smaller outfits. But it was a fad, and only Los Pericos would sustain and grow their careers once the fancy faded (Los Cafres would be mildly successful starting in 1994).
A band that was not a fad was Los Auténticos Decadentes
Los Auténticos Decadentes
Los Auténticos Decadentes is an Argentine band that mix ska with Latin American rhythms. The band was formed around the year 1986 by Cucho and Nito, who invited Gastón to join them....
, who would become a hugely popular ska-Latin pop and ballad group. They along with Los Pericos
Los Pericos
Los Pericos is an Argentine band formed in 1987. The band has enjoyed international success, especially throughout South America. In 2006, the band received some notable exposure for North American audiences when featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations...
and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
would be leaders in the tropical rock scene of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and latin music.
The third trend came about partly as a result of the first: many rock fans did not approve of the commercialism and experimentation of the A-bands, and increasingly looked underground for a more confrontational guitar-led rock. Among them: Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
, Don Cornelio y La Zona (later Los Visitantes), Los Brujos
Los Brujos
Los Brujos was an Argentine rock band, part of the "New Argentine Rock" scene which became successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s.- Members :*Gabriel Guerrisi: guitar*Fabio "Rey" Pastrello: 2nd guitar*Alejandro Alaci: voice...
, Babasónicos
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
, Los Siete Delfines, Massacre Palestina. All of them would be part of the "Nuevo Rock" ("New Rock") explosion of the early 1990s.
In heavy metal, the already mentioned Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca is a heavy metal band from Argentina formed in the 1980s.-Biography:The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires...
dominated popular tastes, specially in other Latin American countries, along with Hermética
Hermética
Hermética was an Argentine band considered to be one of the most important bands in the history of Argentine heavy metal.-Biography:After the dissolution of V8 in 1987, its members split and formed their own groups; Osvaldo Civile created Horcas, Alberto Zamarbide, Miguel Roldán and Adrián Cenci...
, JAF, and Horcas
Horcas
Horcas is a heavy metal band from Argentina created in 1988 by Osvaldo Civile, former guitarist for V8, Argentina’s landmark heavy metal outfit in the 1980s. After quitting V8 in 1985, and impressed by the new generation of thrash metal bands from the Bay Area led by Metallica, Civile set out to...
(the last two more domestic), in a very healthy scene for a style that never was overwhelmingly crowded in Argentine rock. A important band in the metal underground was Nepal
Nepal (band)
Nepal was an Argentine thrash metal band from Buenos Aires, originally assembled in 1984.-Biography:Nepal was formed in 1985 by Beto Vázquez and Javier Bagala. Later on Claudio "Larry" Zavala joined...
, one of the pioneering bands of thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
. Formed in 1984, they were part of the first generation of worldwide thrashers, and gained prominence as the decade ended and musical tastes turned approbatory for more extreme metal. The genre got many magazines committed solely to it and distributed nationwide: Madhouse, Metal, Riff Raff, Revista Epopeya, etc.
The end of the 1980s were also a period of continued growth for Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
, on their way to becoming one of the most mythic cult bands of broad popularity in the history of rock, anywhere. It was also the time when Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos was a Argentine rock band , formed in 1986 in Buenos, Aires Argentina. Originally formed by Juanse , Pablo Memi , Paul "Sarcophagus" Cano , Ruben "Roy" Quiroga . In October 2007, Fabian "von" Quintiero split from the band after it has been built since 1997. In its place came...
were gaining followers with the burgeoning "rolingas" (followers of a sub-genre of Argentine rock that is greatly indebted to the Rolling Stones). On the pop side Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
with their taylor made FM songs were ubiquitous. Finally, Divididos
Divididos
Divididos is an Argentine rock band.The band was formed in 1988 after the death of Luca Prodan and the consequent dissolution of the band Sumo...
and their guitar-crunching melodic noise was more and more becoming a preview of what the next decade would bring. In general, as the fantastic '80s for Argentine rock closed, the music was in period of transition and exploration at all levels.
"Canción Animal" and New Rock
Soda StereoSoda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
's frontman Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was the frontman, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and lead songwriter of the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, one of the most influential bands of latin rock music. In the early 90s, with...
could foresee where the tide was heading and put his own band in front of it. After releasing the increasingly hard rocking Doble Vida
Doble Vida
Doble Vida is the fourth album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo and was released in 1988. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.-Track listing:...
, the band headed to studio with new producer Daniel Melero to record their fourth major album, Canción Animal
Canción Animal
Canción Animal is the seventh album released by the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, released in December, 1990...
. It was released in October 1990, about a year before Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
released Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
.
Canción Animal confirmed that it was OK to return Argentine rock to an 'in your face', edgy attitude that shaped the Argentine Invasion aesthetic in the early years of the 1980s, but this time with electric guitars as the stars. From that album, the single "De Música Ligera", might well be the most recognizable Spanish-language rock single of all time, and also one of the most covered by bands all over Latin America and elsewhere. Canción Animal helped underground acts like Los Brujos
Los Brujos
Los Brujos was an Argentine rock band, part of the "New Argentine Rock" scene which became successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s.- Members :*Gabriel Guerrisi: guitar*Fabio "Rey" Pastrello: 2nd guitar*Alejandro Alaci: voice...
, Peligrosos Gorriones, and Massacre break faster into the mainstream, by taking guitar-crunching rock to the apex as 1991 began. Even pop-bound groups like Los Enanitos Verdes
Los Enanitos Verdes
Enanitos Verdes is a successful rock trio from Argentina, formed in 1979 in the city of Mendoza...
rocked harder in their early '90s works, particularly in their Big Bang album, whose single "Lamento Boliviano" is now a classic.
These and other bands in their wake would be dubbed the "Nuevo Rock Argentino", or New Argentine Rock. A term that not long after would also be used as an umbrella to group bands with a hard-to-pin-down style, like the neo-surf pop of Super Ratones (from Mar del Plata), and neo-fusionists La Portuaria
La Portuaria
La Portuaria is an Argentine rock band formed at the beginning of the 1990s. The band developed a fusion sound, constructing Latin rhythms upon a base strongly influenced by jazz and rhythm'n'blues. The line up included Christian Basso on bass and Sebastián Schachtel on keyboards, with Diego...
with their world music touches. "Nuevo Rock" would be the dominant form of rock in Argentina until the middle of the decade when it lost ground to so-called "rock suburbano".
In 1992, Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
presented Dynamo, their fifth album, arguably the most conceptual (the other being "Signos"), and the most experimental to that point. It apparently took fans by surprise, and was the lowest seller of the group's works (it didn't help that in the middle of all this the band changed labels; Sony wouldn’t promote a band that was leaving, and BMG wouldn't promote another label's album).
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
had in 1992 their first major breakthrough of their careers with the hit D-generación from their 1992 album Pasto
Pasto (album)
Pasto is the debut album by Argentine rock group Babasónicos. It was recorded and released in 1992 and has guest appearances by Gustavo Cerati, Daniel Melero and members of other groups which, at the time, were also part of the New Argentinian Rock movement, such as Martes Menta and Juana la Loca...
, which would herald future international success for a band that would define the sound of "sonic" rock. Juana La Loca was another band in the so-called sonic scene that started in the early '90s and would breakthrough a few years later. Los Brujos
Los Brujos
Los Brujos was an Argentine rock band, part of the "New Argentine Rock" scene which became successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s.- Members :*Gabriel Guerrisi: guitar*Fabio "Rey" Pastrello: 2nd guitar*Alejandro Alaci: voice...
would have a great year 1992; the single "Kanishka" was an instant chart-topper. Los Visitantes equaled the success of Los Brujos the next year with their album Salud Universal, an offbeat mix of guitar rock and tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
tinges. Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
was a punk response to the Argentine rock being made in the late 1980s, consciously choosing to be far more direct and explicit in their musical (and political) statements. The band gained rapid acclaim with the rise of New Rock, and were one of the favorite bands of the period. Slowly the group would evolve from their early punk to a more diverse style that include afro-Latin rhythms.
The odd-group out that appeared in the early '90s was the outrageously named Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas was an Argentine funk duo formed in 1991 by Dante Spinetta and Emmanuel Horvilleur. In 2001 Dante and Emmanuel split to continue their solo careers...
(a reference to Colombian footballer Carlos Valderrama). More rappers than rockers, the group nonetheless made a mark in the rock scene as time progressed and they were able to more successfully integrate rap with Argentine rock, and also Latin rhythms. One of the members, Dante
Dante Spinetta
Dante Spinetta is an Argentine singer/composer who was part of the defunct duo Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas.- Biography :...
, is the son of Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
.
Suburban Rock
As New Rock was dominant, Suburban rock was at the same time laying the groundwork for large scale success later on. In its simplest description, suburban rock is straightforward and guitar centered, with a foundation in the blues, and an unsophisticated image (somewhat a counter-movement to the image conscious, musically more pretentious New Rock). Many of the bands would emerge from the distant suburbs of Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, thus their style being dubbed "rock suburbano", or "suburban" rock (which goes under other terms including "rock chabón", "rock barrial" and "rock fierita").
Undoubtedly the early influences of the genre can be said to be Sumo
Sumo (band)
Sumo was a 1980s Argentine alternative rock band, merging post-punk with reggae and ska. Headed by Italian-born Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity, but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary Argentine rock. Sumo introduced British post-punk to the...
(aesthetically), and Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
. After Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan was a Scottish musician.He was the son of an Italian father and a Scottish mother, born in Rome after the return of the Prodan family from China, where Luca's father had set up a prosperous business becoming an expert in ancient Chinese pottery, because of the Japanese invasion...
's death, Sumo's remaining members went on to either form Divididos
Divididos
Divididos is an Argentine rock band.The band was formed in 1988 after the death of Luca Prodan and the consequent dissolution of the band Sumo...
or Las Pelotas. The former group's third album, La Era de la Boludez ("The Age of Dumbness"), was a commentary on modern Argentine society and made the band the more commercially fruitful of the two. On the other hand Las Pelotas were not necessarily seeking commercialism, which earned them street-cred in the underground. All of these bands and their incessant tours around the suburbs of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and other cities would reap benefits not only for themselves but for other suburban groups that would follow soon after.
Some of the suburban acts owed so much to the sound of the Rolling Stones, that their followers came to be known as "rolingas". Eventually rolinga became a style: cheesy 1970s sneakers, tight t-shirts with the logo of the Stones or a local 'stone' band, and a disdain for other Argentine rock sub-genres they consider part of the establishment. At the forefront of this movement were Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos was a Argentine rock band , formed in 1986 in Buenos, Aires Argentina. Originally formed by Juanse , Pablo Memi , Paul "Sarcophagus" Cano , Ruben "Roy" Quiroga . In October 2007, Fabian "von" Quintiero split from the band after it has been built since 1997. In its place came...
, whom for years before were perfecting a musical formula that would be emulated by countless neighborhood bands in years to come. They were joined in the Rolinga scene by Viejas Locas in the mid '90s.
The rise of the suburban style of rootsy-rock was a catalyst to bring the until then obscure bands of Argentine blues to the light. Memphis La Blusera
Memphis La Blusera
Memphis La Blusera was an Argentine blues/rock band created in 1978 and split in 2008. The band members are Adrian Otero on vocals; Daniel Beiserman on bass, acoustic bass, and vocals; Villanueva Emilio on tenor saxophone and bass; Mira Marcelo on drums; German Weidemer on keyboards, piano and...
are the undisputed fathers of the genre, performing and recording together since the late 1970s. Their appeal as well as that of newcomers La Mississippi increased dramatically in the 1990s as musical tastes now allowed a broader public to appreciate their work. Both bands are considered the indubitable leaders of the blues in Argentina.
1990s Metal
The last decade of the twentieth century was a very productive one for this style of rock in Argentina. There had always been "heavy" bands: Billy Bond y la Pesada del Rock in the 60s, Pescado RabiosoPescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso was a band or musical enterprise of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta from 1971 to 1973. In spite of its short life, it is still considered an important piece of Argentine rock history.-Discography:...
and Pappo
Pappo
-, 1968:-, 1969:# # # # # # # # # -Rock de la mujer perdida, 1970:...
's Blues in the 1970s, V8
V8 (band)
V8 was an Argentine heavy metal band created in 1979, one of the first notable Argentine bands of that genre. After its dissolution former members have continued their careers starting other heavy metal bands, Hermética, Horcas, Rata Blanca, Logos and Almafuerte.-Biography:In the beginning of the...
, Riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, and several underground metal acts in the 80s. But they had never been at the forefront of Argentine rock, seemingly always obscured by other genres whether it was acoustic, symphonic, progressive, or the 80s invasion bands. This changed in the 1990s.
As the decade started Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca is a heavy metal band from Argentina formed in the 1980s.-Biography:The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires...
, Horcas
Horcas
Horcas is a heavy metal band from Argentina created in 1988 by Osvaldo Civile, former guitarist for V8, Argentina’s landmark heavy metal outfit in the 1980s. After quitting V8 in 1985, and impressed by the new generation of thrash metal bands from the Bay Area led by Metallica, Civile set out to...
, Hermética
Hermética
Hermética was an Argentine band considered to be one of the most important bands in the history of Argentine heavy metal.-Biography:After the dissolution of V8 in 1987, its members split and formed their own groups; Osvaldo Civile created Horcas, Alberto Zamarbide, Miguel Roldán and Adrián Cenci...
and J.A.F had very respectable careers. Rata Blanca was internationally approved: in fact, it is plausible to state that their classic metal sound was more popular outside Argentina than within. Internationally popular to a lesser extent was Hermética, the archrivals of Rata Blanca (both formed in 87 when V8
V8 (band)
V8 was an Argentine heavy metal band created in 1979, one of the first notable Argentine bands of that genre. After its dissolution former members have continued their careers starting other heavy metal bands, Hermética, Horcas, Rata Blanca, Logos and Almafuerte.-Biography:In the beginning of the...
disbanded), but there were no doubts of their massive following at home. Horcas and J.A.F stayed mostly successful in the local medium, though nonetheless had some overseas exposure.
The major development in Argentine metal of the 1990s was the rise of A.N.I.M.A.L.
A.N.I.M.A.L.
A.N.I.M.A.L. was a Groove metal band from Argentina....
. The acronym translated literally stands for "Abused (accosted), Our Indians Died While Fighting". And their themes lived up to that title: the band would be one of the most outspoken advocates for indigenous people and even nationalism, while also (as such bands tend to do), blasting against the current world order. Their sound is equal parts hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and thrash
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
. Another important band formed in 1990 was Tren Loco, whom long after went to Japan and won second place in a major battle-of-the-band event at famous Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
Stadium in Tokyo. The metal underground also flourished in the 1990s, with bands like Alakrán, Jezabel, Jason, Logos, and Jeriko, among others.
Other developments
Solo artists from the earlier generations were by the 1990s established figures in the medium. The biggest two stars (as it had always been since 1970), were Charly GarcíaCharly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
and Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta , is an Argentine musician. He is one of the most influential rock musicians of South America, and together with Charly García is considered the father of Argentine rock. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano...
. Garcia enjoyed a prolific 1980s with many of his albums turning into classics. Spinetta had a more uneven worksheet but nonetheless was successful. Pappo
Pappo
-, 1968:-, 1969:# # # # # # # # # -Rock de la mujer perdida, 1970:...
continued spitting out blues and heavy rock records, Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos
Miguel Mateos is a rock singer/songwriter from Villa Pueyrredón, Argentina. Outside of Argentina, he is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Español, specially in the 1980s when he along with Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes, Virus, Sumo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rata...
remained a popular rock figure in Latin America and Spain even as he dropped almost off the radar in Argentina. León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
's unique "folk-rock meets world music" approaches made him an internationally acclaimed musician.
Fito Páez
Rodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...
's pop career continued to take-off in the early 1990s. In 1992 he released El Amor después del Amor, becoming the best selling Argentine rock album. The title "love after love" was not by chance: he had just ended a well-publicized relationship with female rocker Fabiana Cantilo
Fabiana Cantilo
Fabiana Cantilo is a singer and songwriter from Argentina. She has sold more than 5 million records in her career.- Soloist :* Detectives * Fabiana Cantilo y los Perros Calientes...
(herself an important '90s singer in the movement), and was getting involved with movie actress Cecilia Roth
Cecilia Roth
Cecilia Roth is an Argentine actress.Her father, Abrasha Rotenberg , a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Ukraine, is an editor and a journalist. He met Cecilia's mother, an Argentinian singer of Sephardic descent Dina Rot, in Argentina. Cecilia Roth has made appearances in numerous television series...
. With the album Paez was confirmed an international pop star. Meanwhile, Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro , is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain in the 1990s. He became one of the main icons of the Argentine rock in the last two decades and has sold over 1.3 million copies.-Abuelos de la Nada:Calamaro was...
had enjoyed some popularity since his solo career begun, but never managed a complete breakthrough with the public. He left for Spain, and there met two local musicians forming Los Rodriguez
Los Rodríguez
Los Rodríguez was a rock band composed by two Argentines and two Spaniards, that played during the 90's.-History:The group was born in 1990 when Ariel Rot and Julián Infante joined Andrés Calamaro, from the band Los Abuelos de la Nada, and Germán Vilella...
in 1991. Two years later the hit single "Sin Documentos" finally gave Calamaro an international hit, and the band gained overnight vogue in Spain and Latin America.
Tropical, Fusion, and Latin influenced rock continued its ascent. 1992 was the year of "La Pachanga": Rosario's Vilma Palma e Vampiros single was an across the board mega hit in the Spanish-speaking world; there was no way of escaping it unless one did not have any kind of social life in the early '90s.
Bands like Los Auténticos Decadentes
Los Auténticos Decadentes
Los Auténticos Decadentes is an Argentine band that mix ska with Latin American rhythms. The band was formed around the year 1986 by Cucho and Nito, who invited Gastón to join them....
, who had a major hit in 1990 with "Loco (tu forma de ser)", and Los Pericos
Los Pericos
Los Pericos is an Argentine band formed in 1987. The band has enjoyed international success, especially throughout South America. In 2006, the band received some notable exposure for North American audiences when featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations...
mirrored the tendency of increased popularity for the sub-genre. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
had a slump in the early '90s after harvesting great accolades in the late 1980s, but came back with a roar in 1994 with Vasos Vacios; the compilation that featured "Matador". The single would turn into a global superhit, winning MTV's best video of the year. The early '90s were also the formative years of a group that would have an impact towards the new millennium: Bersuit Vergarabat
Bersuit Vergarabat
Bersuit, formed formally in 1989, is one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the 1990s/2000s. The previous name of the band was Henry y la Palangana....
. La Mosca would begin tapping into the tropical and Latin trend by 1995.
Argentine punk
Argentine punk
-1976–1983: Military dictatorship years:1976 is the year in which punk music started to emerge in the United Kingdom with bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash. That same year a military dictatorship known as National Reorganization Process began in Argentina...
-revival took off in the 1990s. Los Violadores
Los Violadores
Los Violadores is a punk band from Argentina and the pioneers of the genre in Latin America.-History:Los Violadores was founded in 1981 by guitarist Hari B . The rest of the band included Stuka , Pil Trafa and Sergio Gramatika...
had ruled '80s punk; them along with the foreign punk bands of yesteryear would inspire the members of Attaque 77
Attaque 77
Attaque 77 is an Argentine rock group formed in 1987.-History:Formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the one that influenced them the most...
and Flema
Flema
Flema was an Argentine punk rock band, that managed to find a unique style among other punk bands.The last configuration of the band was: Ricardo Espinosa , Fernando Rossi , Luis Garibaldo , and Pepe Carvallo . Their songs usually deal with loneliness, alcohol and drugs, friends, women, politics,...
. Formed in 1986 and 1987 respectively, they were pioneers of the worldwide punk revival movement. Attaque 77's breakthrough came in 1990 with the single "Hacelo por Mi"; Flema
Flema
Flema was an Argentine punk rock band, that managed to find a unique style among other punk bands.The last configuration of the band was: Ricardo Espinosa , Fernando Rossi , Luis Garibaldo , and Pepe Carvallo . Their songs usually deal with loneliness, alcohol and drugs, friends, women, politics,...
never broke to the mainstream but were heroic figures of the punk underground. Both groups paved the way for dozens of followers. One of those were 2 Minutos
2 Minutos
2 Minutos or Dos Minutos are a punk rock band from Argentina. They are one of the most important bands of the genre to emerge in argentine rock in the 1990s, highly influential across the Spanish-speaking world, and also popular in the punk scene of the United States.-Biography:The band can trace...
, with their pure-energy, extreme, back-to-basics punk rock. Another darling of the scene were Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
, perhaps one of few bands in any punk movement that was accepted for their various rock styles besides punk. Fun People
Fun People
Fun People is a punk band from Argentina. They sing in English and Spanish, often mixing both languages in a single song or even line. Human and animal rights are frequent subjects in their lyrics...
took punk's liberal philosophy to another level by tackling the punk-scene itself: many of their lyrics criticized the macho attitudes in the movement which they saw contradictory to the spirit of punk. They were also the first band that sang in Spanglish
Spanglish
.Spanglish refers to the blend of Spanish and English, in the speech of people who speak parts of two languages, or whose normal language is different from that of the country where they live. The Hispanic population of the United States and the British population in Argentina use varieties of...
, meanwhile another bands, like Drop Dead! Argentina used to do it only in English. The She Devils
She Devils
She-Devils is an Argentine punk band that started to play in the year 1995.The band has often been associated with the homocore genre.The band members are: Patricia Pietrafiesa , Pilar and Inés...
were the leaders of the local queercore scene. Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...
, a punk band that had existed since the 80s but suffered various contingencies, finally would produce albums by the mid 90s.
See: Argentine punk
Argentine punk
-1976–1983: Military dictatorship years:1976 is the year in which punk music started to emerge in the United Kingdom with bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash. That same year a military dictatorship known as National Reorganization Process began in Argentina...
The Mid '90s Schism
In the middle years of the '90s a rift developed in Argentine rock that would, with only slight wrinkles, endure to present times.By 1995 "nuevo rock argentino" or Argentine new rock had lost steam. For starters, bands like Los Siete Delfines and Peligrosos Gorriones, with their more artistic antics, fell out of favor. At the same time, groups like Massacre and La Portuaria
La Portuaria
La Portuaria is an Argentine rock band formed at the beginning of the 1990s. The band developed a fusion sound, constructing Latin rhythms upon a base strongly influenced by jazz and rhythm'n'blues. The line up included Christian Basso on bass and Sebastián Schachtel on keyboards, with Diego...
went into recording hiatuses and would not return until more favorable winds in the early to mid 2000s. Los Brujos
Los Brujos
Los Brujos was an Argentine rock band, part of the "New Argentine Rock" scene which became successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s.- Members :*Gabriel Guerrisi: guitar*Fabio "Rey" Pastrello: 2nd guitar*Alejandro Alaci: voice...
disbanded in 1998 after eight years of solid productions, but it left a large void in the movement. One of the last hurrahs of new rock were rap-rockers Actitud Maria Marta, which had a year of fame in 1995. Babasónicos
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
, Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
, and Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas was an Argentine funk duo formed in 1991 by Dante Spinetta and Emmanuel Horvilleur. In 2001 Dante and Emmanuel split to continue their solo careers...
were some of the new rock bands that were able to maintain their level as the year 2000 approached.
Also, 1995 would see the last album by Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
, their relaxed almost chillout-like Sueño Stereo
Sueño Stereo
Sueño Stereo is the final studio album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo. It was released by Sony BMG in 1995...
, an album at times more electronic than rock preluding where Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was the frontman, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and lead songwriter of the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, one of the most influential bands of latin rock music. In the early 90s, with...
's solo career would depart. Soda Stereo would go on a last grand tour through the United States and Latin America, selling out entire stadiums as they went. Their last concert in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1997 was released as a double-album
El Último Concierto
El Último Concierto is a live album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo. The album was released in 1997 as two different albums, El Último Concierto A and El Último Concierto B. The album was recorded on September 20 at the last concert by the band at the River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires...
, and over 70,000 people twice over packed River Plate
Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the intersection of Figueroa Alcorta and Udaondo. It is the home venue of Club Atlético River Plate and is named after former club president Antonio Vespucio Liberti...
Stadium. The arguably greatest band in Argentine and Rock en Español history wrapped up the concert and their career with the live version of "De Musica Ligera";, Gustavo Cerati, the vocalist, guitarist and leader of the band, would end the song thanking his public, and would finish this gratitude by saying "... Gracias totales" (total thanks), this would become an icon of the Argentine rock.
Conversely, "suburban"; rock was on the up. On the one hand were the 1980s bands that by the mid '90s approached the suburban rock sound: Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
, Divididos
Divididos
Divididos is an Argentine rock band.The band was formed in 1988 after the death of Luca Prodan and the consequent dissolution of the band Sumo...
, Las Pelotas. They were joined by two bands that would define suburban in the late '90s as well: Los Piojos
Los Piojos
Los Piojos were a rock band from Argentina, highly popular, and one of the seminal bands of the 1990s Argentine suburban rock movement.As with most suburban rock bands, their formative sound owes a significant amount to the style of the Rolling Stones...
and La Renga
La Renga
La Renga are a hard rock and Heavy Metal band from Argentina, formed in 1988.They have a moderate success with the albums A Dónde Me Lleva La Vida and Bailando en una pata, between 1993 and 1995, but it was the release of Despedazado por Mil Partes, in 1996, that made them nationally famous.With...
. La Renga is also considered one of the Rolinga groups (followers of the Rolling Stones blueprint) like Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos was a Argentine rock band , formed in 1986 in Buenos, Aires Argentina. Originally formed by Juanse , Pablo Memi , Paul "Sarcophagus" Cano , Ruben "Roy" Quiroga . In October 2007, Fabian "von" Quintiero split from the band after it has been built since 1997. In its place came...
and Viejas Locas, whose weighty followings would only grow larger.
Argentine youth began to musically and socially gravitate to either the suburban rock groups or towards the underground. And even within these two major groupings there were subdivisions (rolinga and post-chabón in suburban rock; sonico, punk, dark in the underground). Then there were the heavy metal followers, the large and getting larger indie scene, and the tropical rock followers, genre increasingly intermixed with the fledgling Cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
and cumbia villera
Cumbia villera
Cumbia villera is a typically Argentine form of cumbia music born in the villas miseria around Buenos Aires and then popularized in other large urban settlements, is derived musically from Cumbia sonidera and Chicha Cumbia.-Origins:Ever since the 1930s there has been a strong migration from the...
movement which would explode in the new millennium. The pieces were in place for the current period of rock in Argentina.
On a completely different, and original level, Andrea Prodan
Andrea Prodan
Andrea Prodan Scottish-Italian film actor, composer and musician is the younger brother of Argentine rock star Luca Prodan. The Prodan family, after suffering internment in a Japanese concentration camp during WW II, was expelled from China due to Mao...
(Luca Prodan's brother) emerged with a bizarre and unique all-vocal, solo album called Viva Voce, recorded on independent label Silly Records. The record won an A.C.E. award and was amidst Peter Gabriel's favourite records in his Real World list of 1996.
Late 1990s & New Millennium
The late 1990s charts were dominated by the success of bands like Los PiojosLos Piojos
Los Piojos were a rock band from Argentina, highly popular, and one of the seminal bands of the 1990s Argentine suburban rock movement.As with most suburban rock bands, their formative sound owes a significant amount to the style of the Rolling Stones...
, La Renga
La Renga
La Renga are a hard rock and Heavy Metal band from Argentina, formed in 1988.They have a moderate success with the albums A Dónde Me Lleva La Vida and Bailando en una pata, between 1993 and 1995, but it was the release of Despedazado por Mil Partes, in 1996, that made them nationally famous.With...
, Divididos
Divididos
Divididos is an Argentine rock band.The band was formed in 1988 after the death of Luca Prodan and the consequent dissolution of the band Sumo...
, Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
, Las Pelotas, Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos
Los Ratones Paranoicos was a Argentine rock band , formed in 1986 in Buenos, Aires Argentina. Originally formed by Juanse , Pablo Memi , Paul "Sarcophagus" Cano , Ruben "Roy" Quiroga . In October 2007, Fabian "von" Quintiero split from the band after it has been built since 1997. In its place came...
, La Mancha de Rolando, Caballeros de la Quema, and many more suburban rock bands. They were joined by Uruguayans No te va a gustar and La Vela Puerca
La Vela Puerca
La Vela Puerca is a Uruguayan rock/ska band formed in Montevideo, Uruguay in December 1995. Its founders and current members are Sebastián Teysera , Nicolás Lieutier and Santiago Butler . The band's first appearance under the name La Vela Puerca was at a street party in Montevideo on December 24,...
in the style, giving rise to the term "rioplatense" rock (rock of the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
region), to group all of the similarly inclined outfits. Suburban rock has created many fine singles and albums, but critics argue many of the bands (specially second rate groups in the rolinga scene), simply repeated the same formula to sell albums. Another feature of suburban rock is that it tends to shun overseas success: whether this is a conscious attitude or a simple limitation of the genre is an ongoing debate.
On the other hand the likes of Divididos, Los Piojos, and Redonditos have transcended its constraints and become influential in Argentine rock and popular on an international level. The better bands in the genre also feature an unusual versatility with non-rock styles like tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, African music, Latin, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and even North American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, each with their own eclectic mixture. It would help elevate them from the legions of imitators in the crowded suburban scene. Divididos 6th album "Narigon Del Siglo" (2000) was one of the first great Argentine rock albums of the new decade; it was peppered with folk.
The underground was more under than usual in the late '90s, it was nonetheless extremely creative. A style that gained some mainstream exposure was "rock sónico" ("sonic" rock), influenced by the 80s "techno-pop" of Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
and early Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
(and also britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
), through Babasónicos
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
and Juana La Loca. The latter group found success with sonic rock in 1997's Vida Modelo. The former would increase their popularity with each new album, arriving at 2001's Jessico, which received international acclaim as one of the first truly outstanding albums of the new millennium. Other underground groups started making noise at this time: El Otro Yo
El Otro Yo
El Otro Yo is an Argentine band of alternative rock and originally of Temperley, Buenos Aires, formed at the beginning of the decade of 1990 and influenced mainly by Nirvana, Pixies and Sonic Youth...
, Catupecu Machu
Catupecu Machu
Catupecu Machu is an Argentine rock band, usually classified as within Rock en Español. Its current band members are Fernando Ruíz Díaz in voices and guitar; Sebastián Cáceres in bass guitar; Javier "Il Grosso" Herrlein in drums and accordion; and Macabre in keyboards and samplers.-Biography:The...
, and Santos Inocentes
Santos Inocentes
Spain's version of April Fools' Day. People stick paper cut-outs of little men, or Monigote to people's backs.Also an alternative rock band from Argentina, founded by Andres Alberti , Andres Dussel and Raul Cariola. The group was most active during the late 90s and two years of 2000...
, leaders-to-be of the early 2000s alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
scene in Argentina. Super Ratones's returned to the alternative charts with 2001's Grammy nominee Mancha Registrada.
In heavy metal, Hermética
Hermética
Hermética was an Argentine band considered to be one of the most important bands in the history of Argentine heavy metal.-Biography:After the dissolution of V8 in 1987, its members split and formed their own groups; Osvaldo Civile created Horcas, Alberto Zamarbide, Miguel Roldán and Adrián Cenci...
disbanded by 1995 giving rise to Almafuerte
Almafuerte (band)
Almafuerte is a heavy metal band from Argentina, formed by bassist and lead singer Ricardo Iorio in 1995 after the dissolution of Hermética.-History:In 1994, Hermética, a heavy metal band from Argentina, broke up...
. With a more up-to-date sound, they were one of the late 1990s favorites along with A.N.I.M.A.L.
A.N.I.M.A.L.
A.N.I.M.A.L. was a Groove metal band from Argentina....
. Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca
Rata Blanca is a heavy metal band from Argentina formed in the 1980s.-Biography:The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires...
continued to perform and record intermittently touring countries around Latin America. Classic metalists O'Connor
O'Connor
O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair .-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair ("grandson/descendant of Conchobhar").-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin,...
in the underground would emerge by the early 2000s, along with exponents of nu-metal Cabezones
Cabezones
-Formation:The band, originally from the city of Santa Fe, was formed in 1994. At first, their music was punk, with songs such as "Uniformado de Cagón", but they left that genre behind to start making so-called "hardcore-dark" music....
and Carajo
Carajo
Carajo is a rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 2001 with Marcelo "Corvata" Corvalan on bass and vocals, Andres "Andy" Vilanova on drums and Hernan "Tery" Langer on guitar and backing vocals...
. One of the most critically acclaimed bands of present is Los Natas
Los Natas
Los Natas or Natas is an Argentinian stoner rock band. In their latest releases they have been steering away from the genre and leaning towards a more experimental sound coined by them as free rock.-Band:...
. Originally a stoner rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
group, in subsequent albums the band has turned more experimental. Some have called this demiurgic style (infused with Argentine folk, psychedelia, and space rock) "Patagonian doom", and this brand of metal has been ranked with the best heard in the new millennium. The band itself prefers to call it "free" rock.
Attaque 77
Attaque 77 is an Argentine rock group formed in 1987.-History:Formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the one that influenced them the most...
still went strong, Fun People
Fun People
Fun People is a punk band from Argentina. They sing in English and Spanish, often mixing both languages in a single song or even line. Human and animal rights are frequent subjects in their lyrics...
did as well (including a European tour), until their disbanding in 2000. The punk underground of the late 90s was buzzing with new bands (Cadena Perpetua, Expulsados), many of them to guide the early 2000s melodic punk scene (Smitten, Shaila
Shaila
Shaila is a Melodic hardcore/Punk rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Formed in 1994, they played for two years for the fun of it and released their first EP, titled Sólo Un Día Más in 1996....
).
In tropical or fusion rock, Bersuit Vergarabat
Bersuit Vergarabat
Bersuit, formed formally in 1989, is one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the 1990s/2000s. The previous name of the band was Henry y la Palangana....
rose to the zenith of the genre. Libertinaje (1998) catapulted the band to the top, and to tours of the Americas and Europe. The follow-up Hijos del Culo (2000) also went double-platinum. Both albums display a dizzying range in style versatility. From the side of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
-rock Los Pericos
Los Pericos
Los Pericos is an Argentine band formed in 1987. The band has enjoyed international success, especially throughout South America. In 2006, the band received some notable exposure for North American audiences when featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations...
and Los Cafres dominated. Ska had Los Calzones and Kapanga, but by 2000 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
had called it quits to their internationally renowned career of rock with ska, rap, reggae, and Latin. La Mosca and Dancing Mood reached achieved greater popularity. Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas
Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas was an Argentine funk duo formed in 1991 by Dante Spinetta and Emmanuel Horvilleur. In 2001 Dante and Emmanuel split to continue their solo careers...
produced some catchy, original, and danceable music (a mix of rock, hip-hop, and Latin) which cemented their fan base all over the Americas, until the duo's separation in 2001.
A highly talented and promising band was Karamelo Santo
Karamelo Santo
Karamelo Santo are a Latin-rock band from Mendoza, Argentina. Formed in 1995, they released their first album, La Kulebra in 1995. Since then, they have released nine more albums....
, another contribution of the city of Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...
(also home of Los Enanitos Verdes
Los Enanitos Verdes
Enanitos Verdes is a successful rock trio from Argentina, formed in 1979 in the city of Mendoza...
). They featured a very refreshing mix of rock, punk, ska, afro-Uruguayan, and cumbia rhythms that earned them critical praise in Argentina. They would spend most of the 2001–2004 period on extensive tours of Europe and the Americas. Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos
Todos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
would break up at the height of their popularity in 1999. Fidel Nadal kicked-off his hardcore Rastafarian career and veered towards cumbia villera
Cumbia villera
Cumbia villera is a typically Argentine form of cumbia music born in the villas miseria around Buenos Aires and then popularized in other large urban settlements, is derived musically from Cumbia sonidera and Chicha Cumbia.-Origins:Ever since the 1930s there has been a strong migration from the...
.
By the year 2000 the cumbia villera
Cumbia villera
Cumbia villera is a typically Argentine form of cumbia music born in the villas miseria around Buenos Aires and then popularized in other large urban settlements, is derived musically from Cumbia sonidera and Chicha Cumbia.-Origins:Ever since the 1930s there has been a strong migration from the...
, the preferred musical style among urban lower classes, had grown dramatically in following and in fact rivaled rock in overall popularity. Its lyrics can parallel those of U.S. rap (poverty, drugs and crime). The genre would increasingly crossover to tropical or fusion rock (as seen in Fidel Nadal, Bersuit, and Karamelo Santo), as well as with several suburban bands that were esteemed by fans of both cumbia villera and rock. Some even talked about a takeover during the height of the villera boom in 2001–2002. The reality is that villera did not take over rock. But it did arrive to stay as yet another fertile popular style of music in modern day Argentina, just as hip-hop created its place in the United States. But neither managed to sink rock, nor was it their intention to do so.
To a lesser extent dance and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
music, which in Argentina have the largest scenes in Latin America, also influenced Argentine rock of the 2000s. A good example of this is the internationally prominent techno-pop act Miranda!
Miranda!
Miranda! is an Argentine electro pop band formed in 2001. Band members include Alejandro Sergi , Juliana Gattas , Lolo Fuentes , Bruno de Vincenti , and since 2003, Nicolás Grimaldi...
, a band that owes as much to current dance and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
as the '80s techno-pop of Virus
Virus (Argentine band)
Virus is an Argentine New wave music band, led by Federico Moura until his death on December 21, 1988 from AIDS-related complications. His brother Marcelo then became lead singer, until the band gave its final performance on September 29, 1990, in a support slot to David Bowie. Virus reunited in...
and Los Encargados, electronic pioneers in Argentina.
At the end of 00s, a new band from Patagonia, called Otherness are hitting the American and British music scene.
Current Trends
As with any current, evolving musical movement, it is hard to define the state of the scene in question. Its final anthology will not be written until 10 to 20 years in the future. But in general terms, Argentine rock in the middle of the 2000s decade can be said to showcase the following trends:- A continued commercial success of suburban and rolinga rock. In the early part of the current decade the so-called '2nd wave of suburban' crashed to the scene: Guasones, Jovenes Pordioseros, La 25, Cielo Razzo, Black Roses, Hijos Del Oeste, El BordoEl bordo (band)El bordo or El bordo rock is a soft rock band of Buenos Aires, that began by chance in 1998 in students celebration. Its name comes from a well-known wine market.-History:...
, and CallejerosCallejerosCallejeros was an Argentine rock band that gained notoriety when the nightclub where they were playing, República Cromagnon, was set on fire during one of its shows, killing 194 attendees, in 2004.-History:...
. Their fan base is somewhat younger than those of the 1st wave, and their music is derivative of the 1st but with a slightly pop, more teen oriented approach.
- Influenced by bands like GenesisGenesis (band)Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Porcupine TreePorcupine TreePorcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
, RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
and Dream Theatre the underground progressive rockProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and progressive metalProgressive metalProgressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
scene has been constantly growing since 2005, with many trends like: metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
- influenced bands like Fughu and Destino 101, progressiveProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
- popPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
- metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
like De Rien, jazz fusionJazz fusionJazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
- progressive rockProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
outfit Fantasía Cromática, progressiveProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
- folkFolk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
Isósceles, King CrimsonKing CrimsonKing Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
- Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
influenced Souls Ignite and symphonic rockSymphonic rockSymphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
–art rockArt rockArt rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
Rodrigo San Martín.
- The current punk scene in Argentina features no real mainstream bands (besides eternal punks Attaque 77Attaque 77Attaque 77 is an Argentine rock group formed in 1987.-History:Formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the one that influenced them the most...
), and a huge underground scene which has a healthy amount of talent. Bands worth mentioning include Smitten; Cadena Perpetua with their well-crafted and tight songs; Romapagana certainly unusual and inspiring with their cosmopolitan mix of language and dinamic sound;ShailaShailaShaila is a Melodic hardcore/Punk rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Formed in 1994, they played for two years for the fun of it and released their first EP, titled Sólo Un Día Más in 1996....
who also features many English lyric songs, unusual for Argentine rock; and veterans 2 Minutos2 Minutos2 Minutos or Dos Minutos are a punk rock band from Argentina. They are one of the most important bands of the genre to emerge in argentine rock in the 1990s, highly influential across the Spanish-speaking world, and also popular in the punk scene of the United States.-Biography:The band can trace...
who soldier on.
- Heavy Metal at mid decade features a predominance of nu-metal and doom metal groups; CarajoCarajoCarajo is a rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 2001 with Marcelo "Corvata" Corvalan on bass and vocals, Andres "Andy" Vilanova on drums and Hernan "Tery" Langer on guitar and backing vocals...
, CabezonesCabezones-Formation:The band, originally from the city of Santa Fe, was formed in 1994. At first, their music was punk, with songs such as "Uniformado de Cagón", but they left that genre behind to start making so-called "hardcore-dark" music....
and a recharged A.N.I.M.A.L.A.N.I.M.A.L.A.N.I.M.A.L. was a Groove metal band from Argentina....
in the former (and all having toured extensively overseas), internationally acclaimed doomsters Los NatasLos NatasLos Natas or Natas is an Argentinian stoner rock band. In their latest releases they have been steering away from the genre and leaning towards a more experimental sound coined by them as free rock.-Band:...
, and Lörihen for the latter. O'ConnorO'ConnorO'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair .-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair ("grandson/descendant of Conchobhar").-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin,...
is the most prominent of the classic metal revivalists. Under AC/DC influence, consolidated his career La Naranja Metalica.
- In fusion or tropical rock Bersuit VergarabatBersuit VergarabatBersuit, formed formally in 1989, is one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the 1990s/2000s. The previous name of the band was Henry y la Palangana....
still command legions. Dancing Mood is the ska representative on the mainstream, and Nonpalidece is the current reggae-rock band in vogue. Other current bands include Karamelo SantoKaramelo SantoKaramelo Santo are a Latin-rock band from Mendoza, Argentina. Formed in 1995, they released their first album, La Kulebra in 1995. Since then, they have released nine more albums....
, Los Calzones, La Mosca, and Kapanga. Ex-Los Fabulosos CadillacsLos Fabulosos CadillacsLos Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
VicenticoVicenticoGabriel Julio Fernández Capello is a musician and composer better known by his stage name Vicentico. Co-founder and vocalist of the band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs along with Flavio Cianciarulo...
and ex-Todos Tus MuertosTodos Tus MuertosTodos Tus Muertos is a punk and reggae band from Argentina created in 1985.-Members:* Felix Gutiérrez - bass and backing vocals * Pablo Molina - vocals, percussion * Christian Fabrizio - drums...
Fidel Nadal are both well embarked in their solo careers with fusion rock.
- In alternative, El Otro YoEl Otro YoEl Otro Yo is an Argentine band of alternative rock and originally of Temperley, Buenos Aires, formed at the beginning of the decade of 1990 and influenced mainly by Nirvana, Pixies and Sonic Youth...
continue their impressive streak of great albums and fresh sounding music. Catupecu MachuCatupecu MachuCatupecu Machu is an Argentine rock band, usually classified as within Rock en Español. Its current band members are Fernando Ruíz Díaz in voices and guitar; Sebastián Cáceres in bass guitar; Javier "Il Grosso" Herrlein in drums and accordion; and Macabre in keyboards and samplers.-Biography:The...
's slightly threatening rock has made them a mainstream alternative band, and BabasónicosBabasónicosBabasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Babasonicos became one of the banner groups of the "sonic" underground rock...
are arguably the most internationally popular Argentine band today. La PortuariaLa PortuariaLa Portuaria is an Argentine rock band formed at the beginning of the 1990s. The band developed a fusion sound, constructing Latin rhythms upon a base strongly influenced by jazz and rhythm'n'blues. The line up included Christian Basso on bass and Sebastián Schachtel on keyboards, with Diego...
, after a late 90s hiatus in a hostile musical climate, returned in the early 2000s as alternative once again resurfaced in Argentina.
- A renovated indie scene with great bands like Jaime Sin Tierra, which created lush beautiful rock before disbanding in 2001, 1000 NICKS1000 NICKS1000 NICKS is an Argentine indie rock band that formed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The group consists of Daniel Cabello , Germán Lucentini , Marcelo Nasra and Martín Soto . The band is well-known for its composing and performing heterogeneity...
with their retro rock style, DalmanereaDalmanereaDalmanerea is an Argentine rock band, formed in early 2000s by former members of the Olavarría's band Disculpen al Nono, which at that time were scattered among Buenos Aires, Tandil and Olavarria....
with their original and creative "meZKla argentina" and InteramaInteramaInterama is an Argentine rock band, formed in 1999, in Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires, Argentina although the present members are together since 2001. In 2007, drummer Mario Guzzi was replaced by Franco Italiano....
and their left-of-the-dial melodies. Entre RiosEntre RiosEntre Rios may refer to:*Entre Rios, Santa Catarina, a city of the Santa Catarina State, Brazil...
's elegant electro lounge with female vocals is one of the best kept secrets in Argentina's indie scene. The indie scene also has a neo-symphonic revival scene with the likes of PezPEZPez is the brand name of an Austrian confectionery and the mechanical pocket dispensers for the same...
and A Tirador Laser, bands which are reviving the sound of later 70s Argentine rock with an updated resonance.
- In addition there is a large indie scene influenced by krautrockKrautrockKrautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
and late 80s/early 90s British and American indie-rock acts such as The PastelsThe PastelsThe Pastels are a group from Glasgow, Scotland, UK.Their early records for labels like Whaam!, Creation, Rough Trade, and Glass Records, had a raw and immediate sound, melodic and amateur, which seemed at odds with the time...
, The VaselinesThe VaselinesThe Vaselines are an alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on bass and drums respectively from the band Secession. McKee had...
, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Some of the most popular bands from this scene include El Mato a un Policia Motorizado and A Banda de Turistas.
- The start of the 2nd generation of Argentine rock solo artists formerly members of great bands of their era: Gustavo CeratiGustavo CeratiGustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was the frontman, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and lead songwriter of the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, one of the most influential bands of latin rock music. In the early 90s, with...
, Indio SolariIndio SolariIndio Solari is an Argentine singer and musician. He was the leader of Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota between 1976 and 2002.He and Skay Beilinson have been the only constant members of the group....
, VicenticoVicenticoGabriel Julio Fernández Capello is a musician and composer better known by his stage name Vicentico. Co-founder and vocalist of the band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs along with Flavio Cianciarulo...
, Fidel Nadal, etc. Ex-Soda StereoSoda StereoSoda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
Cerati spent most of the early part of the decade in the electronic side of music. In 2006 he returned with his first album of all new music since 2002 (Ahi Vamos) where rock was front and center, albeit a more mature rock of a man in the middle age of his life. Ex-Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de RicotaPatricio Rey y sus Redonditos de RicotaPatricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota were an independent rock band originally from La Plata, Argentina whose tours in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s drew a cult-like following....
Solari's debut album El tesoro de los Inocentes was seen as the best of 2004. VicenticoVicenticoGabriel Julio Fernández Capello is a musician and composer better known by his stage name Vicentico. Co-founder and vocalist of the band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs along with Flavio Cianciarulo...
and his homonymous debut sold well, but his second effort suffered the sophomore slump. He has just released his third solo album, Los Pájaros. Skay Beillinson, also ex-Redonditos, also did well with his forth solo efforts.
- Many new bands influenced by Redonditos de Ricota are reaching recognition. Those include Mavirock, and Cajale Cazazo.
- The first decade of this century saw the apparition of rock bands singing in English, like WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
(not to be confused with The WatchmenThe WatchmenThe Watchmen is a Canadian rock band. They were one of the most commercially successful Canadian alternative rock groups of the mid to late 1990s. During their peak years the band had three gold records and one platinum record...
, the Canadian band), or the Anglo-Argentine The DraytonesThe DraytonesThe Draytones are a Anglo-Argentine music group formed in London, England in 2006. The same year they signed a record deal with 1965 Records, an independent record label based in London.-History:...
. SkiltronSkiltronSkiltron is an ArgentinianFolk Metal band formed in 2004 by Matias Pena and Emilio Souto. This musical fusion is common in many groups in Europe, but is remarkable in South America, and especially in Argentina, Skiltron being a pioneer group of the genre....
, playing celtic metal, released his first album on 2006.
There are several current bands that are broadly tagged under suburban but are not easy to categorize: Arbol
Arbol
Arbol is a programming language which has been primarily developed for use in Genetic Programming experiments. It is a functional programming language inspired by the ideas of other small and esoteric languages. An Arbol program looks like: // Simple I/O...
is arguably the most talented of them: their albums can go from hardcore to balladry, and from hard rock to folk and reggae. Los Tipitos and Villanos
Villanos
Villanos is an Argentinian band formed in 1994 in the neighborhood of Villa Celina. It is one of the few bands of the punk genre in Argentina that has been featured in mainstream radio and television...
present a more melodic style of suburban. Los Tipitos show a tendency to mature pop-rock; Villanos
Villanos
Villanos is an Argentinian band formed in 1994 in the neighborhood of Villa Celina. It is one of the few bands of the punk genre in Argentina that has been featured in mainstream radio and television...
's sound is cheery and shows more buoyancy, and at times slides towards the sound of Argentine "sonic" rock with a dash of punk. And Intoxicados has been burning the rock charts throughout 2006, their latest effort Otro Dia en en Planeta Tierra (2005) digging hit after charting hit. A diverse album stylistically with lyrics whose content seem not to match the music, it features the suburban blueprint sound but it is used more as a foundation than a showcase. One could also include Smitten. Romapagana, a Punk-inspired band, now commands great respect in certain circles. Formed by Luca Prodan's younger brother, Andrea, it points to a new urban sound with guerrilla-like intensity.
External links
- Database on Argentine rock artists, songs and albums
- National Rock
- Going Underground: New music from Argentina Article looking at some of Argentina's underground rock and indie bands