Spanish bands to watch from Primavera Sound 2014

Every year Primavera Sound in Barcelona has an onslaught of indie darlings from English speaking countries, but did you also know that Spanish bands play the festival? And no, not just John Talabot. Spanish groups usually play during the 5PM time slot when everyone is either just waking up from their 7AM bedtime or going back to sleep for that sweet, sweet siesta so you’re sure to see Arcade Fire or Kendrick Lamar. So, it’s easy to miss them. Here’s a list of some of the Spanish acts that played the festival that are worth keeping an eye on.

Univers, from Barcelona univvers.bandcamp.com

The epitome of Spanish shoegaze, Univers have been our friends since we interviewed Mujeres a while back, as both groups share a member. We also wrote about their last EP La Pedregada, and this year they came out with their first full length L’Estat Natural. It’s lovely dimension bending guitar riffs and voices drenched in reverb.

Pional, from Madrid soundcloud.com/pional

A good buddy of John Talabot and featured on 2012's Fin, Pional makes house and electro music. Constantly releasing remixes on his soundcloud page, his DJ set is one of the best at Primavera Sound. And his original electronic compositions aren't too shabby either.

Oso Leone, from Mallorca
osoleone.bandcamp.com

Oso Leone make some minimalist electronic music that is as entrancing as it is poppy at times. With reverb drenched vocals as the songs wind deep into their meditations, you might not even realize what language the band is singing in, but it doesn’t even matter.

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UNIVERS: THERE’S NO FIRE IN SPACE, BUT THERE’S HAIL

Spiraling through atmospheric drone riffs and surf rock, Univers’ guitar melodies sound as if outer space were crashing into the ocean. The guttural vocals hold a strange Joy Division ‘80s vibe, but definitely sound like the droning omnipotence of the Universe itself. So, if you ever had one of those weird moments where it seemed like the universe was trying to communicate with you but you didn’t understand, maybe it’s because the universe speaks Catalan, like Univers. The band comes from Barcelona and their latest EP, called La Pedregada, is a nostalgic blend that perfectly conjures up the city’s dusty back rooms, beach side bars, botellones (the Spanish word for “street drinking”), and late, late nights.

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Univers :: La Pedregada EP

Another excellent 12/12/12 present was the release of Univers' first EP La Pedregada. It's heartwarming to see the holiday crosses international boundaries. Too bad it only happens once a century.

I covered Univers for The Bomber Jacket in a piece called Spaingaze along with two other drone findings from Spain. You can read that piece here. Univers contains a member from another Barcelona favorite, Mujeres, specifically singer Yago Alcover. The gutteral Joy Division-like vocals are split between him and Eduard Bualance and capture the mumbling monotony of the all knowing universe quite well. If you ever had one of those moments where it felt like the universe was trying to speak to you, but you weren't quite sure what it was saying, maybe it was because the universe speaks in Spanish.

The EP was released on Fàmelic Records too, which is another friend. Read my piece about them on The Bomber Jacket. It's cool to see these two come together.

univvers.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/univvers

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