Argentine rock

Argentine rock (known locally as rock nacional [ˈrok nasjoˈnal], "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish.

Argentine rock was the earliest incarnation of Spanish-language rock. It began by recycling hits of English-language rock & roll. A rising trend of composing new songs mostly in Spanish can be traced at least back to the late 1960s, when several garage groups and aspiring musicians began composing songs and lyrics that related to local social and musical topics. Since then, Argentine rock started and continued through uninterrupted evolution through the 1970s and into the 1980s.

A distinguishing trait of Argentine rock is its insistence on Spanish language lyrics. Argentine rock today is a blanket term describing a number of rock styles and sub-cultures within Argentina.

1958−1964

Sandro y Los del Fuego in 1961

Rock and roll first began to appear in Argentina in 1956 after the genre was created in the United States in 1954-1955, based largely on rhythm and blues and country and western.

1964−1975

The first few years of rock music in Argentina were confined to cover bands. In 1964, Argentina, like much of the rest of the world, was shaken by the Beatles phenomenon.

Late 60s beat music

First formation of Los Gatos, circa 1968

By 1965, rock music was developing rapidly in Argentina. On television, several shows such as Ritmo y Juventud and El Club del Clan, with singers like Palito Ortega, Violeta Rivas, Chico Navarro, and Lalo Fransen, featured a poppy version of rock, which owed equal amounts to Merseybeat and to Argentine and Italian romantic pop.

In the mid-1960s Los Beatnicks, whose members included Javier Martinez of the Argentine blues band Manal and the singer Moris, began taking Argentine rock from imitation to a more creative state (while still following UK trends mainly). They recorded the first Spanish language single in 1966 called "Rebelde".

Almendra and Manal in a poster for Pelo magazine, circa 1970

Acoustic and heavy rock

By the turn of the decade rock was entering the heavy metal era. Among them, Pescado Rabioso, Vox Dei, and Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock and Roll. Pappo's Blues was invited by B.B. King to play in Madison Square Garden. Acoustic rock bands that gained popularity from their performances at the Acusticazo of 1972 include Vivencia, Pastoral, and Alma y Vida.

That year Tanguito was killed hit by a train. Conspiracies about his death abound, including that he committed suicide and that he was thrown onto the tracks by police. As he was a heavy drug user, others contend he simply might have tripped.

Sui Generis farewell concerts

Charly Garcia during Sui Generis farewell concerts, 1975

When Charly García and Nito Mestre left Sui Generis their two final concerts took place at the Luna Park Arena, on September 5 of 1975, in front of 30,000 people.

1975−1983

Progressive rock

Invisible in 1974

Another symphonic/progressive band was Crucis. Their music began attracting attention in the underground, and so they started getting bigger performing venues. As change swept Argentine rock in 1975, their music was rapidly rising to popular musical tastes. Their compositions were strong and dynamic with unexpected breaks, and the interplay between the electric guitar and keyboards captivating. The rhythm-section sounded powerful and adventurous.

Espíritu, who formed in 1973 but had roots since 1969, would go on to be an internationally followed group in the latter part of symphonic rock's heyday. The first album Crisalida is cited as their best effort, with beautiful and alternating compositions and changing atmospheres (from mellow with acoustic guitar to up-tempo with heavy electric guitar), lush keyboards and some vocal harmonies.

Former heavy rockers El Reloj turned to prog with 1975's self-titled album. Their sound has been compared to Uriah Heep's mystic and proggy sound.

A symphonic band that would have a great year in 1976 was ALAS. Their music was even more intellectual and unorthodox. ALAS would feature artists such as Rodolfo Mederos and Pedro Aznar. Luis Alberto Spinetta would begin his third band Invisible later in that year. Their symphonic sound tinged with tango would bring critical praise. A band that showed a lot of promise that never materialised was Reino de Munt. Formed by Raul Porchetto, it featured a young Alejandro Lerner, and musicians like Gustavo Basterrica and Frank Ojsterseck.

On March 24, 1976, the democratic government was toppled by a military coup. It opened one of the darkest political chapters in Argentina's history, full of repression, fear, and missing citizens. Argentine rock by no means would be immune to the military crackdown, and would suffer the worst period of censorship in its history. Rock was seen as subversive by the nation's authority figures, who began to clamp down on the music. In a 1976 speech, Admiral Emilio Massera denounced rock musicians and fans as potential subversives and repression of them began in 1977. Before the end of the decade, rock had gone increasingly underground. Rock Nacional avoided the government's heavy media censorship and allowed an outlet for codified criticism of the government.

Symphonic rock

At the height of symphonic rock, Crucis was joined at the top by the popularity of Espíritu; the two are generally seen as the most well-known outfits of the symphonic rock period. The first album of La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros was a mixture of effort, individual performances, melodies, dynamic contrasts, ensemble work and arrangements.

Soluna, 1976

That year a band from La Plata called Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota started performing.

Argentine rock and the Islas Malvinas War

One of the last progressive bands was Tantor. They were less symphonic and far more prog-experimental, with jazz as a major support. Their first eponymous album was a hit in the scene, and the band would continue till the mid-1980s as one of the last bands of the progressive era.

Serú Girán went touring in Brazil in 1980, where their reception by fans at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in Rio de Janeiro, then returned home, released "Bicicleta" and gathered 60,000 fans in La Rural back in Buenos Aires chanting no se banca más ("it isn't bearable anymore", alluding to the Argentine military dictatorship). That year they had also performed in concert with Spinetta Jade, Luis Alberto Spinetta's latest project and the other popular rock group of the early 1980s. It was an event in which both bands eventually played some songs of each other's repertoire.

1983−1990

In May 1982 the Festival for Latin American Solidarity took place in support of the troops who invaded the Falklands, and also a veiled protest to war, and a call for peace (at first the musicians feared appearing for risk of being portrayed pro-war). This event was the final stepping stone of Argentine rock in becoming the dominant form of music in the country. At the same time, English-language rock was wiped out from radio play. The programmers had to fill the voids with something, and that was with Argentine rock.

Argentine Invasion

The Cafe Einstein was opened in 1982 by Omar Chaban (who would end up convicted for the República Cromañón nightclub fire 22 years later), featuring some of the first presentations of three underground bands: Sumo, Soda Stereo, and Los Twist. Both Sumo and Soda Stereo featured slightly different line-ups in their early days, with Sumo having an English girl, Stephanie Nuttal, on drums. She returned to England when war broke out between her country and Argentina.

As the early 1980s progressed it became clear that the new generation of rockers were not like anything before: Los Violadores pioneering punk in Latin America; Virus oxygenating rock with their new-wave sound, followed by Cosméticos with a similar style; Sumo's punkish reggae-rock developing a fanatical cult following (Luca Prodan sung mostly in English, which reduced his band's radio exposure yet their fame expanded unabated); and Soda Stereo the buzz of the underground. ZAS introduced the phrase rock en tu idioma ("rock in your language").

By 1985, year in which Los Fabulosos Cadillacs were formed, several bands began receiving consistent airplay across Latin America. Argentine rock began "climbing" the continent up the Andes: first Chile, then Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela. Zeta Bosio member of Soda Stereo said regarding this: "We would leave Argentina and tour in Chile, Peru, etc, and in some places they had never heard a live rock concert before... they said that such music was for another world and wouldn’t work... now it's all joy seeing how it did work and that it now has its own legs..." Argentine rock bands were the first to be signed to multinational record labels for distribution across many nations.

In Mexico, Argentine bands were being marketed by media giants like Televisa as "rock in your language". In Chile, where a few outstanding bands existed even prior to the Argentine boom (see Los Prisioneros), the flood of rock music coming from their eastern neighbor would fully energize and inspire the local scene. The current boom in Colombian rock can be traced to the 1980s, with most Colombian rock acts citing the Argentine invasion groups as a direct influence.

Late 1980s

In 1987 ended Luca Prodan was found dead on December 22, due to complications from his alcoholism. Miguel Abuelo, following gallbladder surgery, was diagnosed with AIDS; terminally ill, he died from cardiac arrest on March 26, 1988. Virus leader Federico Moura's persistent pneumonia fueled rumors of further complications, which ended in the revelation soon after by the singer that he was infected with AIDS.

Some bands began to experiment with world music in the last two years of the 1980s. Charly García got together with his old Serú Girán partner Pedro Aznar and recorded "Tango", whose name accurately suggests the style of the album.

A second was the rise of "Tropical" rock, and the explosion of local Reggae bands in Argentina seemingly out of nowhere in 1987. While Argentine rock was triumphant internationally, Argentina was caught in a reggae-mania: in the summer of that year arose Los Pericos, Los Cafres, La Zimbabwe, and Jafran, among many other smaller outfits. But it was a fad, and only Los Pericos would sustain and grow their careers once the fancy faded

1990−1998

"Canción Animal" and New Rock

In 1992, Soda Stereo presented Dynamo, their sixth album, arguably the most conceptual (the other being "Signos"), and the most experimental to that point. It apparently took fans by surprise, and was the lowest seller of the group's works (it did not help that in the middle of all this the band changed labels; Sony would not promote a band that was leaving, and BMG wouldn't promote another label's album).

Babasónicos, 2006

On the other hand, Babasónicos had in 1992 their first major breakthrough of their careers with the hit D-generación from their 1992 album Pasto, which would herald future international success for a band that would define the sound of "sonic" rock. Juana La Loca was another band in the so-called sonic scene that started in the early 1990s and would breakthrough a few years later. The band that founded the Sonic Movement in Buenos Aires was Iguana Lovers, started in 1990. Now with collaborations of the shoegaze

Rock rolinga

Main article: Rock rolinga

Some suburban acts owed so much to the sound of the Rolling Stones, that their followers came to be known as "rolingas". Eventually the rock rolinga (a.k.a. rock stone) became a style: cheesy 1970s sneakers, tight T-shirts with the logo of the Stones or a local 'stone' band, and a disdain for other Argentine rock subgenres they consider part of the establishment. At the forefront of this movement were Los Ratones Paranoicos, whom for years before were perfecting a musical formula that would be emulated by countless neighborhood bands in years to come.

1990s Metal

In the 1990s the band A.N.I.M.A.L.'s acronym translated literally stands for "Abused (accosted), Our Indians Died While Fighting". The band advocated for indigenous people and nationalism, while denouncing the current world order.

Other developments

Tropical, Fusion, and Latin influenced rock continued its ascent. 1992 was the year of "La Pachanga": Rosario's Vilma Palma e Vampiros single was an across the board mega hit in the Spanish-speaking world; there was no way of escaping it unless one did not have any kind of social life in the early 1990s. Bands like Los Auténticos Decadentes, who had a major hit in 1990 with "Loco (tu forma de ser)", and Los Pericos mirrored the tendency of increased popularity for the subgenre. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs had a slump in the early 1990s after harvesting great accolades in the late 1980s, but came back with a roar in 1994 with Vasos Vacios; the compilation that featured "Matador". The single would turn into a global superhit, winning MTV's best video of the year.

The Mid '90s Schism

1995 saw the last album by Soda Stereo, their relaxed almost chillout-like Sueño Stereo, an album at times more electronic than rock previewing the direction of Gustavo Cerati's solo career. Soda Stereo went on a last tour in the United States and Latin America.

Since 1998

Late 1990s & 21st century

In the late 1990s, "rock sónico" ("sonic" rock) was influenced by the 1980s "techno-pop" of Virus and early Soda Stereo (and also Britpop), through Babasónicos and Juana La Loca. The latter group found success with sonic rock in 1997's Vida Modelo. The former would increase their popularity with each new album, arriving at 2001's Jessico, which received international acclaim as one of the first truly outstanding albums of the new millennium. Other underground groups started making noise at this time: Iguana Lovers, they founded the Sonic movement in Buenos Aires in 1990,

In heavy metal, Hermética disbanded by 1995 giving rise to Almafuerte. With a more up-to-date sound, they were one of the late 1990s favorites along with A.N.I.M.A.L. Rata Blanca continued to perform and record intermittently touring countries around Latin America. Classic metalists O'Connor in the underground would emerge by the early 2000s, along with exponents of nu metal Cabezones and Carajo. One of the most critically acclaimed bands of present is Los Natas. Originally a stoner rock group, in subsequent albums the band has turned more experimental. Some have called this demiurgic style (infused with Argentine folk, psychedelia, and space rock) "Patagonian doom", and this brand of metal has been ranked with the best heard in the new millennium.

Bersuit Vergarabat, 2004

In tropical or fusion rock, Bersuit Vergarabat rose to the zenith of the genre. Libertinaje (1998) catapulted the band to the top, and to tours of the Americas and Europe. The follow-up Hijos del Culo (2000) also went double-platinum. Both albums display a dizzying range in style versatility. From the side of reggae-rock Los Pericos and Los Cafres dominated. Ska had Los Calzones and Kapanga, but by 2000 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs had called it quits to their internationally renowned career of rock with ska, rap, reggae, and Latin. La Mosca and Dancing Mood reached achieved greater popularity. Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas produced some catchy, original, and danceable music (a mix of rock, hip-hop, and Latin) which cemented their fan base all over the Americas, until the duo's separation in 2001.

Karamelo Santo, another from the city of Mendoza played a mix of rock, punk, ska, afro-Uruguayan, and cumbia rhythms and spent most of the 2001–2004 period on extensive tours of Europe and the Americas.

• In addition there is a large indie scene influenced by Krautrock and late 1980s/early 1990s British and American indie-rock acts such as The Pastels, The Vaselines, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Some of the most popular bands from this scene include Iguana Lovers (that started in 1990 with collaborations of Ride (band) members, Mark Gardener and Loz Colbert and the Scottish band The Jesus and Mary Chain)
• In 2019, the Congress passed a gender equity law requiring at least 30% of musical festival lineups be women artists. Notable feminist rockers include Marilina Bertoldi, Flopa, Marina Fages, Cam Beszkin, Mujeres Bacanas, Loli Molina, Los Besos, Rosario Bléfari, Lara Pedrosa, ibiza pareo, Sol Bassa, Potra, Florencia Ruiz, Eruca Sativa, and Miss Bolivia.
• Skiltron, playing Celtic metal, released his first album in 2006. Skiltron split in 2011, giving origin to Triddana. Another Celtic metal is Tersivel (2004), whose first EP was recorded in 2006 and their first full-length album was released in 2010. Other notable English singing bands are Electronomicón (hard rock), Kapel Maister (symphonic metal), 42 decibel.

External links

• Database on Argentine rock artists, songs and albums
• Rock News, Concerts and More
• Going Underground: New music from Argentina Article looking at some of Argentina's underground rock and indie bands