Argentina has a lot of good rock and pop bands. The style of most of these is very similar but there are some groups, which have their particular composition – a mixture between classic rock and pop and some local composition.

In our previous posts, we talked about the rising band Octavio Sendero and the most important under rock band: Pez. Now Gigslutz Argentina write about four bands which made a change in the Argentinian indie music scene and another new group which are due to do the same. .

Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota

These are the most famous, mysterious and influential band in the country. They were formed by Carlos “Indio” Solari and “Skay” Bellinson in 1976 in La Plata city (45 kilometers south from Buenos Aires), at the beginning of the last cruel dictatorship, and they split in 2001. To be independent was the band’s ideology so they created their own recording company and they gave very few interviews to the press (only five or six in all those years). In spite of this they gathered 120.000 people in a show in 2000. In their tunes you can find blues, rock and roll and pop. The lyrics are very strange too. Some people say that Patricio Rey´s songs are about drugs, especially cocaine. But the songwriter Solari never talked about it. Nowadays, Solari has his own group and Skay took the same way. About their relationship you can make a parallel with Morrissey and Johnny Marr in the UK.

Soda Stereo

Soda Stéreo first appeared in 1982 with a dark look similar to The Cure but its music was more electronic. Gustavo Cerati (guitars, voice, synth, samplers and keyboards), Charly Alberti (drums) and Zeta Bosio (bass, synth and samplers) met in the University and started to play together. Soda Stereo recorded 7 albums, which have a mixture of rock, pop and electro. In 2005, when it reunited, Soda Stereo collapsed stadiums around the continent and it was acclaimed in all of the countries where they played. The band leader Cerati suffered a CvA in 2010, and now he is in a coma.

Sumo

In 1981 Luca Prodan, an Italian man who has studyied in Edimburgh with Prince Charles, arrived to Argentina and moved to Córdoba (800 kilometers west from Buenos Aires) because he was a heroin addicted and he wanted to detoxify himself. Some months later, he moved to Buenos Aires and met Ricardo Mollo (guitar), Alejandrod Sokol (drums), Germán Daffunchio (guitar), Diego Arnedo (bass) and Roberto Pettinato (saxophone). Sumo played psychedelic reggae music and the lyrics were in English. Sumo played in the underground scene with “Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota” and it has 5 albums. Luca Prodan died in 1987 and the rest of the band founded two other bands: Divididos and Las Pelotas. Sumo is one of the most important influences of the contemporary bands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKnzbDlz2c

Babasónicos

Babásonicos first appeared in the early ´90s and it took part of the movement “Nuevo rock Argentino” (in English “Argentinian new rock”). Nowadays Babasónicos play for 20.000 people and have headlined all of the main festivals. The sound, the aesthetic and the style of the band caught the public and the media´s attention since they started playing whilst their unique dress sence is some form of punk and rockabilly; the music has hard guitars, dance melodies and psychedelic keyboards spread across 11 albums.

Proyecto Quasar

Provecto are a newer band with 2 albums so their name. They play virtuosity music similar to The Mars Volta. Proyecto Quasar is made up of five members and are currently working on their thirs album. It is one of the rising bands of the under rock in Argentina and it played in the country and in Uruguay too.