Britpop. Latinos do it better…
British rock and Britpop are cultural movements that influenced music from the 1960s to now. In the 60’s, British bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks were some of the top hitmakers. In the 90s, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Suede, and The Verve gained popularity around the world. These bands didn’t necessarily have a single unifying sound but they were grouped together first as a ‘scene’ and later as a national cultural movement.
Eventually, this movement spread outward from the UK to influence bands from Mexico, Spain, Peru, and Argentina to write songs in the British rock and Bripop styles but with Spanish lyrics. Iberpop is British pop sung by Spanish bands (a fact that I found on a Coldplay message board, and surprisingly, not on Wikipedia). Bands that followed this style include Los Bunkers, Sidonie, Second, Noise Box, Libido, Jumbo, Porter, Lucybell, Volumen Cero, Jeronimo, and Zoé.
Eventually, this movement spread outward from the UK to influence bands from Mexico, Spain, Peru, and Argentina to write songs in the British rock and Bripop styles but with Spanish lyrics. Iberpop is British pop sung by Spanish bands (a fact that I found on a Coldplay message board, and surprisingly, not on Wikipedia). Bands that followed this style include Los Bunkers, Sidonie, Second, Noise Box, Libido, Jumbo, Porter, Lucybell, Volumen Cero, Jeronimo, and Zoé.
Though not many people have picked up on the fact that Britpop could be sung in Spanish, bands like Zoé have made a successful career for themselves. Zoé’s history begins in Mexico in 1994, just as Britpop became the decade's most important music style. Mainly inspired by this movement, with slight influences from Seattle's grunge, Zoé would go through a period of changing line-ups and varying styles before stabilizing in 1997, with León Larregui (guitars and voice), Sergio Acosta (guitars), Beto Cabrera (drums), Ángel Mosqueda (bass), and Chucho Báez (keyboards). By this time, a clear influence from The Beatles can be perceived, alongside the mentioned Britpop and certain reminiscences to The Stone Roses and The Charlatans.
From 1998 to 2004, Zoé found that Mexico lacked venues to showcase their music and so they relied upon self-organized concerts, the Internet, and a self-published demo. All of these efforts, plus a good deal of positive word-of-mouth, helped them gain popularity in Spanish language radio stations in the USA. They signed their first recording contract in 1998, but nothing came of it, and once again they decided to rely on themselves. They independently released a "debut" album in 2000, which attracted the attention of Sony Music, who in turn took over distribution of the album. Some of the most popular songs from this recording were “Asteroide” and “Miel”.
In November 2003, Zoé launched their second album, produced by Phil Vinall, who had previously worked with the likes of Placebo, Elastica, and Pulp. This new album was titled Rocanlover, and the main singles were “Peace & Love”, “Love”, and “Veneno”. By this point, their musical style was clearly defined and easily recognizable, as was their idea to mix Spanish and English into their lyrics.
In 2004, Zoé went into a short hiatus but returned to the music scene by mid-2005, when independent label Noiselab signed a recording contract with the band. New songs and a new EP (named The Room) were produced.
Their popularity has been growing, and they're becoming more and more popular in their home country, as well as outside the alternative circles. Some of their songs have been playing in pop and alternative music stations in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Their new album, Memo Rex Commander Y El Corazón Atómico De La Vía Láctea (Commander Memo Rex and the Atomic Heart of the Milky Way), comes out in the USA on October 3rd 2006. Zoé have already been favorably reviewed in the NME.
Zoé’s new album incorporates influences like The Cure and The Verve, with dark rhythms and shoegaze textures, along with their signature poppy guitar riffs and buoyant drum beats. My favorite songs are “Vía Láctea” (Milky Way), “No Me Destruyas” (Don’t Destroy Me), “The Room”, and “Human Space Volt”.
They performed in the USA, for only one night, in New York City on Tuesday, August 1st at Webster Hall. I was in luv w/ their musica and was so excited to finally see them live!! Can’t wait for them to come back!
Links:
Zoé official site
Zoé myspace
Noise Lab
From 1998 to 2004, Zoé found that Mexico lacked venues to showcase their music and so they relied upon self-organized concerts, the Internet, and a self-published demo. All of these efforts, plus a good deal of positive word-of-mouth, helped them gain popularity in Spanish language radio stations in the USA. They signed their first recording contract in 1998, but nothing came of it, and once again they decided to rely on themselves. They independently released a "debut" album in 2000, which attracted the attention of Sony Music, who in turn took over distribution of the album. Some of the most popular songs from this recording were “Asteroide” and “Miel”.In November 2003, Zoé launched their second album, produced by Phil Vinall, who had previously worked with the likes of Placebo, Elastica, and Pulp. This new album was titled Rocanlover, and the main singles were “Peace & Love”, “Love”, and “Veneno”. By this point, their musical style was clearly defined and easily recognizable, as was their idea to mix Spanish and English into their lyrics.
In 2004, Zoé went into a short hiatus but returned to the music scene by mid-2005, when independent label Noiselab signed a recording contract with the band. New songs and a new EP (named The Room) were produced.
Their popularity has been growing, and they're becoming more and more popular in their home country, as well as outside the alternative circles. Some of their songs have been playing in pop and alternative music stations in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Their new album, Memo Rex Commander Y El Corazón Atómico De La Vía Láctea (Commander Memo Rex and the Atomic Heart of the Milky Way), comes out in the USA on October 3rd 2006. Zoé have already been favorably reviewed in the NME.
Zoé’s new album incorporates influences like The Cure and The Verve, with dark rhythms and shoegaze textures, along with their signature poppy guitar riffs and buoyant drum beats. My favorite songs are “Vía Láctea” (Milky Way), “No Me Destruyas” (Don’t Destroy Me), “The Room”, and “Human Space Volt”.
They performed in the USA, for only one night, in New York City on Tuesday, August 1st at Webster Hall. I was in luv w/ their musica and was so excited to finally see them live!! Can’t wait for them to come back!
Links:
Zoé official site
Zoé myspace
Noise Lab
No comments:
Post a Comment