Spanish Indie 24: suggesting the best national acts

Not the first time, and with the amazing taste and ear of Rafa and Joan to sign exciting bands I'm pretty sure it won't be the last, this next round of national discoveries is devoted to one of our dearest labels, El Genio Equivocado. Three more mind-blowing bands to add to their immaculate roster. Sonic gold!

Ghost Transmission. Hailing from Xàtiva, Valencia, the band started in 2012, initially as a trio but now as a quartet, self-releasing their own material and playing several concerts. Despite first demos were completely homemade, they got the opportunity to play in festivals and gigs like Make Noise in Barcelona. A year later they repeated the process, but with a more defined sound and clearer ideas, self-recording three more songs under the title of 'Mirror' EP. After some more gigs, during the summer of 2014 they locked into Estudios Tigruss to record their debut album, entitled 'Apparitions', out now via El Genio Equivocado. An LP fated to be among the best national records of the year, thanks to a thunderous combination of melody and shoegaze, The Raveonettes and The Jesus and Mary Chain's spirit channeled in hyper-addictive tunes and a fierce, no-boundaries attitude live. I believe in ghosts from now on.

Cómo Vivir en el Campo. After this very curious name hides a trio formed in Madrid that, after some self-recorded albums, released their first proper LP 'CVEEC' in 2012 on Discos Calabaza, with their music traveling somewhere between the Californian sounds of the 60’s and 90’s noise pop, giving shape to a bright, radiant, dark and ambiguous pop sung in Spanish. After getting enlisted by El Genio Equivocado, last summer they recorded second album 'CVEEC 2', out that September, which opened the doors of festivals like Primavera Club. Understandable considering they have even widened their palette of sounds, everything seems to fit naturally with them: from krautrock to indie pop, from instrumental sounds and Latin touches, experimentation and melody. One hell of a proposal, catchy & exciting as well as adventurous, powerfully performed live. Let's move out from the city!

El Lago Oscuro de la Broca. And we end the proposals in Zamora, with a quintet born in mid-2008. Been around from a little while they built a reputation of "one of the best kept secret of the Spanish scene" and "band to watch" thanks to performances at Sonorama Festival, Microsonidos and gigs around the country until, at the end of 2014, El Genio Equivocado signed them. The label immediately released advance single 'Los Líderes Africanos'. anticipating their flawless debut album, 'Beta', out since this March. A stormy, frighteningly solid, relentless and shocking treaty of shoegaze, noise-rock and post-punk, atmospheric yet at the same time straightforward. A very special, knockout band.