Sunday 13 October 2013

Wau Y Los Arrrghs!!! - Todo Roto


Wau Y Los Arrrghs!!! return with their third album of Spanish language, gonzo-garage!


You know you're into for a treat even before pressing the play button for this latest Slovenly Records release. There's a great photo on this album's back cover, with the band attending what looks like a wrap party for the kids' TV show Horrible Histories. It's a party that's seemingly held in the middle of a wood, with band members sporting a random selection of costumes. There's a potion wielding wizard, a toga-wearing Roman threatening the cameraman with a baseball bat, traditional (Turkish?) national dress, a pistol-totin' woman in a strapless black dress, and a bare-chested horseman brandishing what looks to be a highwayman's musket.

For all this display of arcane weaponry it's vocalist Juanito Wau's distinctive voice which is likely to do the most damage. With of one of the most recognisable voices in garage rock, a genuinely menacing, snarly tone and over the top delivery which lifts the band's music above that of your average garage band. It matters not that it's all sung in Spanish and I can't understand a word, it's the feeling that counts, and the feeling I get from this matches the primal punch of the music. A raw mix of garage punk, surf, beat and yé-yé, with an energy level that never dips.

Alongside seven new and original tracks a hit is tipped to those '60s acts who continue to inspire, with covers of tracks by The Kinks, Jacques Dutronc, Cuby And The Blizzards and The Unknowns. Considering their music is of a genre that's ideally suited to the 7” vinyl single format, Wau Y Los Arrrghs!!! have pulled it off here, delivering a long-player that will sit nicely alongside your Back From The Grave compilations. Now let me get my fancy dress outfit on so I can go and find that party!


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