A huge amount of music appears in the Silent Radio inbox. Whilst these releases are often a source of joy, they usually take a familiar form. As such, it is a delight to be confronted with something that sounds if not unique then distinctly unusual yet is also instantly pleasing. Such accolades can be applied to ‘Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida’ which translates as ‘One more chance to succeed in life’. It is the latest album from Columbian Avant-Latin experimentalists, Los Pirañas. They are a veritable supergroup consisting of Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers), Mario Galeano (Frente Cumbiero) and Pedro Ojeda (Romperayo) who are the main composers in their other bands.
The key to their success comes in managing to blend a variety of forms and influences without sounding as if they are randomly throwing musical forms at the wall in the hope that something coalesces. The trio met at high school and have been playing together since the age of 15. Starting off with punk and heavy metal, they became interested in tropical Columbian music as well as traditional music from Latin America. That led them onto a focus on African music. As a band who make improvised instrumental music, they have taken inspiration from free jazz but the latest album reflects their desire to make music for the dancefloor.
‘Una Oportunidad…’ was recorded over the course of a week at Galeano’s studio without overdubs or studio magic which gives it the immediacy of a live performance. It emerged from jamming around initial ideas and if the idea of jam sessions causes a furrowing of the brow, fear not as the eight tracks transcend the self-indulgence associated with that approach. Galeano and Ojeda lay down tight grooves informed by cumbia, Latin American rhythms and West African highlife, while Alvarez feeds his guitar through a laptop creating circular loops. All the loops are synchronised and the rhythm section fits over them without using a click track. It makes for a wonderfully dense and complex sound as exemplified by the opening track ‘El Nuevo Prometeo’(The New Prometheus). The rhythms take as their source African Música Picotera from Cartagena and Barranquilla as well as the Palenquero rhythm from San Basilio de Palenque. Meanwhile the harmonies and melodies are influenced by music from Benin and Nigeria. The guitar loops mix elements of a Steve Reich minimalist composition with the spikiness of Raincoats or Slits-like post-punk.
There is a jerkiness to the rhythms of ‘El aguazo de Javier Felipe’ that recalls Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band at their most angular, chivvied along by flurries of scampering guitar noises. The pace is reigned in on ‘Despectiva caridad’ which is given spacious dub echo married to laidback twangy guitar and occasional top end squeaking. It conjures walks along a sunny boulevard in a slightly altered state of consciousness that gives a heightened awareness of the surroundings. Maintaining that sense of contrast, ‘Educados por Condorito (Y Don Ramón)’ has a frenetic punky disco vibe.
Starting the second side in a buoyant mode, ‘Con mi burrito sabanero voy directo al matadero’ has a wonderful highlife skip to its guitar while the bassline adds propulsion and punctuation. ‘Pateando culos’ could be Joe Meek soundtracking an Usain Bolt sprint, albeit one that lasts for nearly four minutes; it is deliciously, deliriously exhausting. The energy is continued with ‘Bájenle a la matricula’, Afrobeat as reimagined by Glenn Branca, ending with what sounds like a bell tolling. While less frantic, the concluding ‘Los pendencieros del Latin’ is far from a soothing listen full as it is of slithery backwards guitar effects.
There is a relevant comparison with their compatriot and Glitterbeat labelmate, Julián Mayorga, with whom they perform at London’s Café Oto on 14 March. Both bring fresh dimensions to Latin music, infusing it with a punkish attitude and willingness to push its boundaries to a transformational level. Los Pirañas, though, are more inclined to stick to conventional instrumentation, albeit the way in which Alvarez mangles and manipulates the guitar creates something fresh. In piling together what at first sight are disparate influences, they produce a sound that is wildly disorienting yet instantly exhilarating.
Los Pirañas: Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida – Out 7 March 2025 (Glitterbeat)
Nuevo Prometeo – Una oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
