As soon as the drums kick in on Crudo y Crema, the opening track of Margarita‘s second album Explota El Cuerpo [2010], I’m taken back to the first summer I spent in Valencia. In fact, the whole album reminds me of driving along the carretera del Saler with the windows down, past the Albufera, towards the sweltering beaches south of the city. Margarita’s brand of eccentric indie-punk-pop is much more pleasing to the ear than what that road -part of the infamous Ruta del Bakalao- is known for.
As you can tell, that album pretty much soundtracked the summer of 2011, so I had high hopes for Margarita’s upcoming releases. And I wasn’t disappointed.
New EP Margarita [2014] offers 6 2-3 minute guitar driven bursts of happy hooks, dreamy vocals and plenty of ‘ooooh’s and ‘woah’s to sing along to. A personal favourite from the new EP is track 5, Nain – a cheerful little ditty that harbours somewhat downtrodden lyrics. The madrileños describe their music as «punk, pop, psicodelia, noise» something which, this time round, has been realised together with producer Sergio Pérez. Markedly less erratic than first album Parque Mágico [2008], the new EP does share some stylistic similiarities with Explota El Cuerpo. When listening to Margarita’s back catalogue you can appreciate the shift and splicing of genres, starting with fast paced, post-hardcore tendencies and ending on a sharper, poppier note.
The full discography of Margarita has been released on Madrid record label Chingaste la Confianza as well as on Barcelona-based record label BCore, featuring on the latter alongside the likes of Nueva Vulcano, No More Lies, Joan Colomo and The New Raemon.
We also need to mention the EP’s cool artwork. Have a proper look at it here. Before seeing it in ultrazoom I hadn’t realised that the lyrics to the songs appear on the cover of the album. Aside from looking good, this is a sure fire way of making sure we understand the songs because, let’s face it, sometimes there’s a hell of a lot of distortion going on. But back to the illustration, who’s that creepy guy there in the middle? Why is he surrounded by a knife and a shrunken head? A little look at artist Manuel Donada’s website tells me that he’s pretty keen on drawing monsters and weird shit. But, hey, that’s kind of cool, and the result is eyecatching and interesting. It turns out he also designed the artwork for Parque Mágico as well as various trippy gig posters.
So have a listen to the new EP (below) and tell me it doesn’t transport you to your happy place with a big smile on your face. It’s available for download from the BCore Bandcamp for just €4.
Here’s the part where I’d normally speculate about possible upcoming tour dates etc. – only it looks like there won’t be a Margarita gig in Valencia, or anywhere else for that matter. In a recent interview with Brubaker it was revealed that one of the last ever Margarita gigs took place in Barcelona in early January, with a final goodbye planned for the band’s hometown of Madrid in a few months’ time.
I guess I’d better check AVE tickets, or at least burn the new EP ready to soundtrack the next road trip in the sunshine.
Lucy
lucy@sepiavlc.com
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