With 2023 finalized, it’s time to look back to evaluate some of the most notable references from last season in Castile and León. We select, in no apparent order, some of the most interesting works left by community artists in the last twelve months.
Two of the surprises of the season have arrived from Burgos, with their respective debuts in long format. On the one hand, Old Viejo and his “The 10 and 10” (Attique), an album that includes psychedelic rock, influences from The Beatles, 70s funk, soul, and even current rap and urban music. For their part, those from Burgos The Mañana Culture ended the year as one of the favorites of this house, thanks to that successful premiere that has turned out to be “Bravado” (Gato Encerrado), a convincing and elegant LP, with 90s and post-punk influences (and groups like Pearl Jam or Echo & The Bunnymen), also finished off with direct solvent.
Valladolid is the province that contributes the most names to this list, beginning with the presence of the already veterans Arizona Baby (pictured) and his “Salvation” (Subterfuge), a short and concise album in which, to the delight of their followers, the trio expresses their classic sound, without trap or cardboard and throughout ten new songs. City buddies (and also label buddies) are Levitantswho, led by vocalist Sergio Isabel, decided to switch from English to Spanish while maintaining their post-punk essence in “Immediate future” (Subterfuge).
Pucelanos are also Siloamthat with his new job “Holy Trinity” (Auto) (and countless concerts behind them) aspire to definitively enter the specific circuit intended for indie-pop suitable for a general audience. They will surely have very different intentions. Hooray For Humansauthors of a magnificent EP, “Put It Back In The Blister” (Auto), one of those that with four songs spread much longer than they last thanks to its always infallible mix of slowcore and post-rock. The same happens with Hazy Ben –a parallel project by David Hernández of Cosmic Birds–, which has signed “Cloud Society” (Astral Travel) halfway between electronica and synth-pop.
In León, the ambitious album-book published by The Moderns “Hell / Comedy” (Eolas), which combines in the same reference a CD with the trio’s pop opera and a collection of texts inspired by Dante’s “The Divine Comedy.” A top ten that could be completed with two Zamoran bands located at opposite ends: the expeditious mix of metal and hard rock woven in the old way by Sin Control on his EP “Damn you” (Auto), in marked contrast to that careful and elegant pop of Project Claudia what’s the album “breaking latest news Of The Universal Cycles” (Auto).
A selection to which mentions can be added for proposals that are certainly different from each other, such as those of PUSSYCAT, Drokan, CKGK & Miguel Grimaldo, she, Dave Gomosa, Carameloraro, N-Wise o Lujuria.