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Todos Tus Muertos were one of the biggest punk bands in Argentina in the 80's, probably second only to Los Violadores. After the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, there was a punk/HC explosion in that southern country (as documented by the compilation LP Invasion 88 on Radio Tripoli Records) but in my opinion, nobody came really close to either of those great bands. Felix and Gamexane, along with some friends started the punk band "Los Laxantes" in 1979, when they still were in their teens, but broke up in 1983 without leaving much of a recorded testimony besides two tracks that appeared posthoumously on Invasion 88. Short time after the split, they started a new band and came up with the name "Todos Tus Muertos": it translates in English to "All Your Dead" and it's a twist of the latin words "Totus Tuus". That name was their answer to the pontifical message, for a pope that came to Argentina during the military junta that was responsible for the death of thousands. Their influences were mostly Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and Bob Marley. I think that it's interesting to know that Todos Tus Muertos singer Fidel's ancestors were black slaves brought to Argentina in the 19th century, a pretty uncommon feature in a mostly white, middle class HC/punk scene. In 1986 they recorded their first demo, Noches Agitadas En El Cementerio, which unfortunately I never heard. Two years later they released their first (self titled) LP on the major RCA. They came up with a mix of punk/HC and some post punk gloom, a little ska and much reggae. I know what you may think, but surprisingly, it works great, even though I always thought that reggae songs could be shorter... The lyrics (in Spanish of course) are really good, mostly describing the anger and despair of a country tortured by genocide, war and neo–liberal economics. Like the Violadores LP, the production is great. I think that the record is underrated in the international punk community, but again, most people probably expect Latin American bands to sound thrashy and fast, which is not the case with many songs on this record. Still, I think that it's one of the most important and interesting punk records that came out of the Spanish-speaking world in the 80's. In 1991 they released their second LP, Nena De Hiroshima, which despite having some decent moments, is not remotely close to their debut and it exposes their intention of leaving the punk territory for good. After that, they released several more albums and toured all over Latin America and even in parts of Europe and North America, but since their music changed dramatically, this may not be the place to discuss that. But in any case, it's important for me to state that they remained politically concious, playing benefits and adressing many of the evils in Latin American societies. |
DISCOGRAPHY Releases TODOS TUS MUERTOS LP (RCA, 1988) NENA DE HIROSHIMA LP (Radio Tripoli, 1991) Compilations - INFO Some lyrics to Todos Tus Muertos |