In the musical kitchen, Los Coronas would be the tapas. Why? Because there’s a little bit of everything. And because there’s some weird stuff you’ve probably never tried before. And because they’re a full blown Spanish institution!
Hailing from Madrid, Los Coronas straddle the cultural border of the Reino de España. As the capital and largest city of Spain, Madrid is the heart of Spanish traditions and customs. It also happens to lie directly south of the gnarly surf culture of Spain’s north coast; towns like San Sebastian, Bilbao and Santander are home to some of Europe’s best surfing beaches. From here, Los Coronas developed their own distinct sound: a mix of surf twang, Spanish folk and fervent rock ‘n’ roll, with shades of a Spaghetti Western soundtrack. Read that again if you have to.
When mixing together their take on flamenco and paso doble with straight up 60’s California beach vibes, they inject atmospheric nods to composers Ennio Morricone and Dimitri Tiomkin (who between them have scored the likes of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and High Noon) atop transitions and blends between glaring Hispanic trumpets, reverb-soaked guitars and classic surfy slides.
After forming in 1991, it took the dudes over 20 years to grace Australian waters. Their debut 2012/13 tour took them to the likes of Woodford, Pyramid Rock and Sydney Festival. Citing a profound respect for Aussie surf culture as the reason they never ventured this far, they obviously fell in love with it as they’re currently back in the country, cutting up more major events like Golden Plains Festival and WOMADelaide, as well as dropping in on our friendly neighbours New Zealand.
When writing and performing, Los Coronas say that they try to create a tsunami with the rhythm section, leaving all in their wake with “only one way to save themselves… take a longboard and enjoy the wave”. Awesome.
These Spaniards are musical matadors, and like red to a bull, you can’t help but want to run full pelt at their sound and smash your brain/ears into it. If this maniacal mix sounds too incomprehensible, check out tunes like Cleopatra Stomp and Go Kato Go to see what we mean. If you’re quick you can still catch them around Australia, and also at WOMAD NZ, through to the middle of March. Check out their Facebook page for ‘detalles’.
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