After the vitality and speed of their debut 7” single, “Eat Tacos” as part of our New Adventures In Pop collection, which even got them a nomination for the Musica Independiente Awards, the new release, a mini-LP, from Antía, Marta, Guille and Miguel, which is to say, WILD BALBINA, has arrived. Recorded by themselves the past summer and autumn of 2013, in their bunker in Vigo, “Sisters Before Misters” reflects and expands on all the constants we could see in their first songs: youthfulness, energy, electricity, and freshness. It’s a journey from garage pop to Riot Grrrl to surf, incorporating influences like NME’s C86 and the California sound.
To start with, “Stay Alive” is the perfect meeting point between the unforgettable choruses of the SHOP ASSISTANTS and the dissonance of the PIXIES. The song is full of hope, which is expressed through the distortion in their guitars. “Looking Through You” keeps the levels of immediacy high, mixing the melodic skill of ECHOBELLY and the electric ferocity of BIKINI KILL, and talks about the passing of time and the lies that try to cancel it out. Their sound is dominated by a collection of unleashed and uninhibited melodic venting, like we can see in “Blue Hour” and which contrasts with the lyrics that are about melancholy and the saddest moments, and that make it absolutely clear how important this band with abundant attitude is.
“R.G.S.N.” shows this attitude off; it could perfectly be a hymn to the Riot Grrrl movement, and it wouldn’t feel out of place on a VIVIAN GIRLS or a BRATMOBILE album. “Winter Trees” puts its all in the feedback, somewhere between the wall of sound of RINGO DEATHSTARR and the poppiest addictiveness of FASTBACKS, and once again contrasts the musical immediacy with lyrics about the melancholy of remembering the past. “Stoned Heart” is another great pop song full of pedals and speedy rhythms, like BEST COAST or a URUSEI YATSURA with the reverb turned way up. “Brainwash” keeps the energy but leaves the immediacy for a more noise-styled progression that at moments brings them close to SONIC YOUTH at their most chaotic, between phrases of defiance and freedom.
But the most important thing about this release is that it shows the feelings that WILD BALBINA are capable of creating, even more clearly: an infinite dose of energy decorated with solid melodies, unforgettable choruses, and that magnetism that makes it impossible to stop listening to “Sisters Before Misters” on repeat, like one of those revitalizing live shows you never want to end.
