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Siniestro Total were one of the most known and succesful Spanish rock bands during the 80's and 90's, gaining their fame mostly in the Iberic Peninsula and Latin America. But more important to know is that they were one of the best early 80's Spanish punk bands. Maybe it's because of their later works (and the low esteem they seem to suffer, or enjoy, from many punkers in Spain) that they didn't became so known outside of the Spanish speaking world, but their early output is great and much recommended. The group was formed in 1981 in the city of Vigo, which is situated in the region of Galicia, close to the border with Portugal. Many in the area still speak Galician, which perhaps could be described as a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese. Region and regional languages seemed to play an important part in the early punk/HC scene in Spain and even though Siniestro Total's songs were mostly in Spanish, they always emphasized their "provincial" origin and had many songs about regional oriented themes. Their first name was Mari Cruz Soriano Y Los Que Le Afinan El Piano (and for those who can understand Spanish, it pretty much reveals their sense of humor) but changed that after a car crash in which they were involved - their car, or its remains, was regarded by their insurance company as "Siniestro Total", a term which I think can be translated to "Total Loss". Literally, it means "totally sinister". Their official biography talks about the group adopting from the very beginning an iconoclastic and neo-dadaist position, but again, that may be just a "grown up" excuse for being silly and loud. Their motto was "Galician Punk Rock against general boredom". In January 1982 they recorded their first demo. In June the same year they released their debut 7", Ayudando A Los Enfermos, on the Spanish indie Dro. It's a good record but just an aperitif (a tapa maybe) for the grand meal that was about to come. Released in november 1982, Cuando Se Come Aqui?, (with artwork and title borrowed from the "Lucky Luke" comics) shows the band at the highest peak of their long-to-be career. The sound alternates between Ramones-y pop punk and fast paced ("hardcore" at times) punk. For orientation purposes, I guess that the early stuff of the Zero Boys and Angry Samoans may come handy. German Coppini's voice is so snotty it makes Jello Biafra almost sound like Sinatra. The lyrics deal with such diverse topics as killing hippies, insane people throwing each other from the attic of the mental house, getting caught with porn magazines, the lasting erections on people who were hung and the Ayatollah of Iran. The overall sound is almost thrashy at places, and it actually benefits the already solid songs, not a strange thing in punk/HC music. Even though I saw this record selling for pretty much outside Spain, it has been pressed in the tens of thousands and it's neither expensive nor hard to get in Spain, so try to find a local that can buy this one for you. If you collect early 80's punk and/or just dig the sound from the era, you need it. In January 1983 they recorded some songs for a TV show, but they were censured. In April, German quit the band, and soon afterwards the remaining three recorded their second LP Siniestro Total II: El Regreso, also on Dro. Even though it is not as strong as the first one, I admit that it grows on you after a while and today I really like it. But I wouldn't recommend it to a fan of punk music who didn't like the first one. Some songs are still punk, some are more rock/novelty stuff. The lyrics are as cool and funny as on the previous records. Sometime after the second LP, they became huge in their own country, signed to a major and their music kept moving towards a more hard rock/bluesy direction. Sometime in the mid-80's, Dro released an early years anthology titled Grandes Exitos, which includes songs from both their first LP's, singles and compilation tracks. They still exist today, even though they went through several lineup changes. All their earlier material was released also on CD and as far as I know, it's still available. |
DISCOGRAPHY Releases AYUDANDO A LOS ENFERMOS EP (Dro, 1982) CUANDO SE COME AQUI? LP (Dro, 1982) SEXO CHUNGO/ME PICA UN HUEVO 7" (Dro, 1983) SINIESTRO TOTAL II - EL REGRESO LP (Dro, 1983) Reissues GRANDES EXITOS LP (Dro, 1986 - has material from all previous releases) Compilations NAVIDADES RADIOACTIVAS (Dro, 1982) INFO - |