Obediencia from Madrid release their debut album after two 7" singles on Solo Para Punks. Their Breakout LP is filled with melancholic damp, anthemic choruses, and powerful vocal melody all hanging amongst fast moving, machinistic drums, and buzzsaw guitar work. This brings to mind some Spanish punk of the golden era like demo era Ultimo Resorte, only having replaced the nods to rock n roll via the Pistols with a few guitar lessons from Greg Sage (Wipers). Enough guitar interplay to listen to on a cold rainy day, and enough power-chords to convince yourself you're listening to Madrid's answer to the Avengers. Standout track is the closer, "Sótano," which sees one of the few breaks in pace to bookend the uncompromising energy that came before it but overall all songs are fast paced, under three minutes with hooks galore. Fans of X, Pink Champagne, Penetration or The Observers will fall in love with this album on first listen.
Erosión comes housed in a heavy weight reverse board sleeve depicting images of a Spain many things have been left behind but that it is just a bit too real still for those looking closely. Lyric insert and download code enclosed.
Our take: In between all of the numerous raging hardcore and confrontational post-punk released on La Vida Es Un Mus, there has also been a thread of dark, melodic punk that has remained a consistent, if sporadic, feature of the label’s discography. It’s not often that LVEUM drops a release like Juanita Y Los Feos’ Nueva Numancia LP or Rata Negra’s Oido Absoluto LP, but when they do you know it’s going to be really good, and indeed that’s the case with this LP from Obediencia. On the surface Obediencia have a lot in common with the aforementioned bands—all three bands have a similar kind of production and overall sound—but Obediencia definitely have their unique points as well. In particular, the songwriting here is dynamic and interesting. The songs are really sophisticated and have a lot of subtle parts that makes the songs come off as dynamic and exciting where so many other pop-oriented bands sound kind of flat and uninteresting. Someone in this band is an incredibly talented songwriter, which is something that sinks in over a couple of listens, as the first few times I listened to this what I mainly heard was the genre, not the band’s unique approach to it. Certainly if you’re a fan of the genre—i.e. if bands like Red Dons, No Hope for the Kids or the aforementioned LVEUM acts tickle your fancy—then this is a total no-brainer, but if you like any degree of pop in your punk at all I would strongly recommend giving this a few listens and seeing if it starts to sink in. Once it finds a place on your turntable I’m pretty sure you’ll have a hard time getting it off.